Igor Luksic

An ex-president, three former prime ministers, several ex-foreign ministers and even a part-time poet are all campaigning to become the next UN secretary-general.

NATO foreign ministers welcomed tiny Montenegro into their fold today in the alliance's first expansion since 2009, defying Russian warnings that enlargement of the US-led bloc further into the Balkans was a "provocation".

An ex-president, three former prime ministers, several ex-foreign ministers and even a part-time poet are all campaigning to become the next UN secretary-general.

NATO foreign ministers welcomed tiny Montenegro into their fold today in the alliance's first expansion since 2009, defying Russian warnings that enlargement of the US-led bloc further into the Balkans was a "provocation".