DPM Bečić: Vetting initiated in Defence Ministry of Montenegro

Relevant authorities have identified security issues with 29 members of Montenegro’s Armed Forces, as well as 3 additional issues regarding access to classified information. This is the beginning of a process that will not stop, as no uniform can guarantee loyalty and no service can guarantee security without a thorough verification of security reliability.

I expect the Minister of Defence and Chief of Staff of the Montenegrin Armed Forces to continue procedures against those who do not pass security checks, in accordance with the laws and the highest standards of professional responsibility. In the system we are building, honorable service means complete legality, accountability and transparency.

Previously in the Police Directorate, based on the same principle of vetting, nearly 100 officials were suspended, while hundreds of security checks, integrity checks and other procedures were initiated.

We clearly stated then, we now repeat even more decisively, vetting is the most powerful weapon in the fight against the infiltration of organised crime, lawlessness, corruption and all unauthorised influences in the security apparatus of the State.

This is a historical purge of those who worked against the interests of Montenegro, in favour of lawlessness, smuggling, organised crime, and various other centres of power.

Anyone who opposes vetting, who relativises this process, who seeks alibis for those who cannot even pass basic security checks, must know that they are not defending the State, but those who have been undermining it for years.