Everyone who legally owns a weapon will have to pass strict psychological and security checks by the end of the year in order to renew their license. Those who do not voluntarily surrender illegal weapons in the next two months will be rigorously punished, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić announced after the session of the National Security Council.
He said that the tragedy in Cetinje is a great burden for the country and that it is important that we unite as a nation.
He said that this was one of the most difficult sessions of the National Security Council that he attended.
"I would also like to personally thank the Montenegrin media, who worked very professionally. I am really proud of the media. I understand and in moments like this I think it is primarily important to unite as a nation in grief and pain," Spajić said.
He said that as a parent, brother, he understands different feelings and that this is a big burden for the state.
"After analyzing the situation, we had several conclusions about what needs to be done in the next period. It is about a medical phenomenon, about a man who had psychiatric problems. A tragic event that had a health component. Someone who had the heart to kill his own sister , two small children. I also want to disprove some stories - the fight had no religious or ethnic reason," Spajić pointed out.
He added that due to the reaction of the medical sector, we have a chance to save four lives.
He said that over 150 police officers were on the scene - many units from Podgorica, Budva, Nikšić... came to Cetinje to help bring the perpetrator to justice.
Spajić said that no one previously remembered to connect the databases of people with mental disorders, the so-called code F, to the data of the MUP.
"NATO countries are ready to help us. They have a problem with people who have been in wars and have so-called PTSD," she said.
Spajić said that "we have conclusions that we will adopt a new law on weapons".
"People who have permits will have until January 1, 2026 to pass new checks, much more rigorous. Those who do not pass, will have to return the weapons or they will be considered illegal. We will be the most uncompromising that people who want to have weapons pass the highest checks that has Europe".
The Prime Minister said that as far as illegal weapons are concerned, the situation is "even worse". but also that the "Respect life, return the weapons" campaign has already produced results.
"That campaign will be limited to two months. If people who possess illegal weapons return them within that period, there will be no legal consequences. However, those who do not return after that will be draconianly punished. After that period, a new law will come into force where possession , and especially carrying it, will be punished the most draconianly," Spajić said.
He added that "there will be no mercy" for these people.
"They will end up in prison and we are not sure that, with draconian norms, it will become the norm to carry illegal weapons. I cannot justify that. The law will be explicit and the judges will have minimum sentences that are drastic. Hunting associations will pass checks They will have to renew all licenses with the strictest criteria. Sport shooting organizations, of which there are too many, are used to recruit members of organized criminal groups, to radicalize people, to give them places where they arrange the acquisition of illegal weapons - we are not crazy to do it".
The problem that the country also has is the number of police officers.
"In previous years, a large number of people retired, above all operatives who are in the field. Why, because they do the most difficult jobs and when they get the conditions, one waits to retire... There is no race for retirement in office jobs. We had a problem recruiting academics, three generations were not accepted and no one dealt with it. We found a solution and very soon 200 people will be accepted according to the urgent procedure".
The Prime Minister announced that a competition will be announced for the additional strengthening of the police with a cadre of high-ranking personnel.
"For six months, we have been appealing to resolve the issue of personnel. We are at the end of that ordeal. We received an offer from the American NATO partners for technology that is in the experimental phase, which not every country has, to quickly detect a shot and for the police to cover every inch in that way."
When asked by journalists what the procedure will be for reporting citizens who have legal weapons and how to motivate citizens to report individuals who have deviant behavior, Spajić replied that there will be a "hotline" where citizens will report anonymously and receive a reward for reporting.
"Citizens must understand that it is not unfair to the individual, even if it is from their home. Citizens can report illegal weapons at all police stations. We have had some good initiatives by citizens and the NGO sector. New legal solutions will be based on that as well. ", he said.
Spajić also announced the introduction of stage duty.
"There are the fewest operatives on the street. We have to keep in mind that many people have retired in the past two years and that we need to hire new staff as a matter of urgency."
He explained that the police were often of a "reactive character", but that through police duty they will have a "proactive character".
"I am not diminishing the actions of the police, in the form of searches. I am also announcing new searches. From now on, the Police Directorate will conduct rigorous searches and we ask all citizens for their understanding in this matter," he announced.
The Prime Minister said that there was no discussion of resignations at the Council session, because it is not discussed at the sessions, but that he feels the responsibility every day as someone who is at the top of the pyramid of executive power.
"As for responsibility, I feel responsibility every day and at every step, as in this case, moral responsibility. Things like this are extremely difficult for me, to extinguish so many lives, two young lives and someone who is at the top of the pyramid of executive power I feel full responsibility, and I'm here."
Spajić also said that people in stronger positions will be from the ranks of the police, and the initial staff will be supplemented by citizens.
When asked why the legal measures are only now being introduced, he said that they had been prepared earlier.
He cited the example of changing the law on money flows, which limits the dirty money used to buy weapons, narcotics...
When asked by the journalist that the killer was a psychiatric case, and that he had therapy but was not sent to an institution, Spajić said that he should be appointed as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Director of the Police Directorate. Spajić said that the Special Police Unit will be the head of the new platoon that will exist. for these situations.
He replied that they had determined who gave the police the wrong information, and that it was a person who was in a state of shock.
"This is a person who was in absolute shock. I don't want anyone to target her. She was in a state of acute shock. They are probably trying to explain her, unfortunately they didn't understand each other at the first moment, the police went to the wrong pub in Bajice. There was is a discrepancy and that is something that happened. The person was in a state of absolute shock. We had a recording of that one conversationalist, you can see exactly through the voice that the man did not know what he was talking about."
When asked by a journalist if there is praise for the police who cannot catch a man in a drunken state for hours, Spajić replied that eight people had been killed before the first report, which was wrong.
"All the murders were committed in 20 minutes. It was a tsunami of violence that hit Cetinje," he said.
Spajić added that two bombs were found in another house.
When asked by the journalist, which was repeated several times, whether he still had praise for the police after six hours of searching, he said that it would be a bad message to attack the police, and that he would not blame others.
He said that after the case of Alija Balijagić, there were resignations in the security sector, and he avoided answering whether there was a proposal for Saranović's resignation.
Spajić said that he did not know how many people were in his security or the security of his cabinet and invited the journalist to submit a request under the SPI.
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