Deputy Prime Minister Aleksa Bečić announced that vetting is also being carried out at the Ministry of Defense, and that the competent authorities and services have so far determined the existence of security obstacles for 29 members of the Army of Montenegro (AVCG), as well as three obstacles to access to classified data.
He stated that "this is the beginning of a process that will not stop," because, he says, without a thorough check of security reliability, "no uniform can be a guarantee of loyalty, and no service can be a guarantee of security."
"I expect the Minister of Defense (Dragan Krapović) and the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of Montenegro (Miodrag Vuksanović), in accordance with the laws and the highest standards of professional responsibility, to continue proceedings against all those who do not pass security checks. In the system we are building, honorable service means complete legality, responsibility and transparency," said Bečić.
He said that previously, almost 100 officers had been suspended in the Police Directorate, based on the same vetting principle, "while hundreds of security checks, integrity checks and other procedures had been initiated."
"And as we clearly said then, we now repeat even more decisively, vetting is the most powerful weapon in the fight against the infiltration of organized crime, lawlessness, corruption and all unauthorized influences into the state's security apparatus. This is a historic purge of those who worked against the interests of Montenegro, and in favor of lawlessness, smuggling, organized crime and various other centers of power," Bečić announced.
"Anyone who opposes vetting today, who relativizes this process, who seeks alibis for those who cannot pass even basic security checks, must know that they are not defending the state, but those who have been destroying it for years, from within," he added.
Bonus video:
