MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. The policy pursued by Montenegro’s authorities aimed at the country’s accession to NATO without talking into account citizens’ opinion is counterproductive, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday following meeting between Russian and Italian Deputy Foreign Ministers, Alexey Meshkov and Vincenzo Amendola, at which the situation in the Balkans was discussed.

"(They) noted the need to take into account the opinion of Montenegro’s citizens while determining the fate of the country, the counterproductive policy of the official Podgorica aimed at its accession to NATO bypassing the referendum," the ministry said.

Meshkov drew his counterpart’s attention to "blatant examples of interference in Macedonia’s internal affairs, including by the EU and NATO agencies, the destructive nature of the ‘Tirana platform’ fraught with the erosion of the Macedonian statehood."

The Russian and Italian diplomats also discussed the deterioration of the situation in the Western Balkans region, "the growing risks related to the manifestations of extremism, militants’ penetration from the hotbeds of crisis in the Middle East and North Africa."