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Third in the world for weapons, will Serbia disarm after the attacks?

2023-05-06 18:45:27Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA SANJA KLAJIç
Third in the world for weapons, will Serbia disarm after the attacks?
Crime in Serbia. Police surround a school in Belgrade after a gun attack

Citizens of Serbia occupy the third place in the world for armament. State institutions claim that this classification is arbitrary. President Vučić declared large-scale disarmament.

After two amok attacks (an episode of mass crime against people or an object in most cases carried out individually) within two days in Serbia, the discussion regarding the possession of weapons is set in motion. And for this there are strong reasons: According to the estimates of the Swiss Research Project, Small Arms Survey from 2018, Serbia ranks third in the world in terms of arming the civilian population - after Yemen and the USA. According to this study, the ratio is among 100 inhabitants there are 39.1 light weapons.

"According to other estimates, almost as many weapons are in illegal possession," Predrag Petrovič, director of studies at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCBP), told DW. "According to the official data of the Serbian police, from 2021 there were 920,000 weapons in Serbia - in the meantime, 50,000 to 60,000 pieces were delivered."

The "gun culture" continues to be strongly guarded

Despite all the assessments: The image that every house should have a gun is quite widespread in Serbia. The reason for this "gun culture", according to security expert Petrovic, is mainly related to the wars that have been going on since 1991 in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

"A part of the weapons from the 1990s have never been handed over, because the citizens of the post-Yugoslav state do not feel safe even today. Added to this is the fact that weapons in the Western Balkans are traditionally considered a symbol of power and status: they show, that man is able to protect himself and his family", explains Petrović further.

The President declares controls and restrictions

The Serbian state now declares a radical reduction of weapons in the country. "All the people who have guns - I mean hunting guns, which are in the hands of about 400,000 people - will be tested, no more than 30,000 to 40,000 guns will remain in their possession. We will implement a complete disarmament of Serbia", declared the president, Aleksandar Vučić, after two rampage attacks.

In addition, the Serbian government also announced checks on all gun owners throughout the country during the next six months. It will be verified, if the weapons are stored in safe conditions and if it is properly guaranteed that they are not accessible by unauthorized persons and minors.

From now on, the rules will be tightened, making it more difficult to obtain a permit to carry weapons. The Ministry of the Interior in Belgrade will issue a two-year moratorium on the ban on the issuance of weapons licenses. "We know that this will not pass without problems, but the fewer weapons there are in circulation, the more the danger to our children and citizens is minimized," said Vucic in a press conference after the latest case of attack.

Way out of banning guns?

The tightening of controls in the background of the situation is the right measure, but the prohibition of weapons does not make sense, thinks Dejan Milutinovic from the union Security Network in Serbia (SUSB). "In the meantime, we have very strong rules. In case of a very small quarrel between neighbors, weapons are immediately seized. But there is no way to know in advance whether someone will use the weapon or not," Milutinovic told DW.

The security expert, Petrovic, points out that the rules for privately carrying weapons have been tightened since 2015, when the obligation to re-register weapons in possession and the examination as well as the argumentation of why the person will carry the weapon was applied. But these strong rules on paper have not been reflected in practice, the deadline for re-registration of the weapon has recently been postponed to 2022 for another two years.

"So the responsibility does not lie with the citizens of Serbia, but with the state institutions. Their practice is not unique: Some weapons were seized, because the police were of the opinion that their owners had no reason to carry weapons. In other cases, persons who carry weapons have been given new licenses, although they had no reason to have weapons," says Petrović.

Illegal weapons are off the authorities' radar

The weapons registered in Serbia are part of the problem, but there is still a large amount of illegal weapons in circulation, originating from the wars of the 1990s. followed by no one", notes Predrag Petrović. The only major disarmament action took place after the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic twenty years ago. About 50,000 weapons were then surrendered or confiscated.

"Now we need a real campaign to convince the citizens to trust the institutions of the Serbian state, that they guarantee security and that the citizens of Serbia no longer need weapons", emphasizes Petrović.

Dejan Milutinovic is of the opinion that most illegal weapons are in the hands of criminal circles. Weapons such as the automatic used by the person on the rampage on 4.5.2023 in the town of Mladenovac cannot be legally possessed.

Citizens of Serbia, who possess illegal weapons, have been given a deadline of one month to surrender the weapons without any consequences. Whoever does not do this voluntarily within the deadline, according to President Vucic: "We will find him and the consequences will be terrible."/ DW


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