(OSCE) - With the consensus of all 55 participating States of the OSCE, Montenegro is expected to take its seat today at the Permanent Council, the Organization's main negotiating and decision-taking body, as an independent country.
Serbia, as the successor state of the now-dissolved union of Serbia and Montenegro, automatically became a participant earlier this month. Last week, its Delegation acquiesced in a Permanent Council decision to recommend to the OSCE Foreign Ministers that Montenegro should join the world's largest regional security arrangement, reports Trend.
This decision was subject to a one-week "silence procedure" which ended at noon today. No objections were received.
Todays meeting of the Permanent Council will therefore begin with a welcome and invitation by its Chairman, Belgium's Head of Delegation, Bertrand de Crombrugghe, to the new Montenegrin Head of Delegation, Vesko Garcevic, to take up his country's seat . Short speeches in response are expected from Montenegro, as well as from the Charge d'Affaires of Serbia's Delegation, Miroslava Beham.