NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (right) holds a news conference with Montenegro's Foreign Minister Igor Luksic after a NATO foreign-ministers meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on December 2 | Photo: NATO.

Montenegro’s rocky relationship with Russia looks set to deteriorate once again now the small Adriatic republic has warmly welcomed an invitation to join NATO.

Moscow last week warned that it will “freeze joint projects with Montenegro” if it goes ahead and joins the Atlantic alliance, as expected, in 2016

Some experts think it unlikely that Russia will take drastic steps. The government also seems unconcerned that the invitation to join the Western alliance may jeopardize relations with Russia.

“There are no significant ongoing or recent investments or business projects from Russia in Montenegro,” the government's Communications Bureau noted to BIRN in the first reaction to Moscow’s announcement.