Milatović: It seems that often the main part of the crime was those who were supposed to fight against it

President Jakov Milatović expressed his support for state authorities in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

"Full support for the judicial institutions to do their job. Their job is precisely the fight against organized crime and corruption. Unfortunately, it seems to me that even this latest arrest speaks about, with the presumption of innocence, what kind of people held significantly high positions in Montenegro in the previous period," Milatović told reporters in Martinići, after the celebration of the 227th anniversary of the Battle of Martinići, when asked to comment on today's arrest of the former director of the Police Administration, Veselin Veljović.

Those who were supposed to fight against crime and corruption, according to him, "seem to have often been the main part of organized crime and corruption."

When it comes to the negotiations on the formation of the Government, Milatović said that all political actors should show a significantly higher dose of responsibility towards the citizens.

"Citizens need a stable, European and pro-reform government, and somewhere I advocate for such a government," said Milatović.

He announced that next week he will formally begin consultations on the mandate for the composition of the government. "I expect that we will do it in a decent time and that the government will be formed quickly after that".

Milatović, responding to a journalist's question, said that he was not in favor of the mandatory return of military service.

"The problem that the Montenegrin Army currently has is insufficient staffing... This means that our army is insufficiently attractive and it is necessary to create a serious strategy to make it more attractive. As for military service, you know that there are different practices in the world, my position is not to restore mandatory military service, but we should definitely open up that topic, to see if some other way might be optimal for Montenegro, so that the Army could additionally serve the civilian, developmental purpose of society, which is insufficiently prepared for any kind of natural disasters that could to hit us".

The role of the Army, as he said, must be additionally developed in this sense.

"Whether a number of young people would perhaps voluntarily choose to serve a term, which would be recognized as a kind of internship or some other type of training, or whether some of them would remain professional soldiers, it's all a matter of a strategy that needs to be seriously observed and developed," Milatović said.