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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia united in grief over tragedy in Belgrade

Belgrade, 3 May 2023

President Aleksandar Vucic said, following the tragedy at the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school in Belgrade, that today is one of the harshest days in the modern history of our country and expressed his condolences to the families of the murdered children and security workers.

In his address to the public in the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic, which began with a minute of silence, Vucic said that Serbia is united in grief.

United in grief, we must look at the causes, the responsibility of each and every one of us, look for solutions so that something like this never happens again, the President said.

He pointed out that the boy K. K. will be placed in a special part of the Neuropsychiatry Clinic.

According to him, the boy's father was arrested as the owner of the weapon, which he obviously kept and stored against the rules, although he had all the necessary permits, while the mother was taken into custody.

Vucic said that nothing can bring back the murdered children, but that he will present several proposals for a new national strategy, stating that one of the measures will be to have an even greater number of police officers in schools to take care of security.

The President proposed introducing a moratorium on the possession and carrying of weapons in the next two years, as well as to conduct a review of all issued permits for the possession of weapons.

He added that he also proposes to control the way weapons are kept and to specifically control whether they are stored separately from ammunition.

He also pointed out that he proposes imposing criminal liability on all those who enable minors to come into contact with firearms.

As the President of the Republic, I propose to the government of Serbia to consider lowering the criminal liability of minors from 14 to 12 years old, which, as he estimated, will be something on which there will certainly be different opinions.

Also, as he added, he will propose the tightening of sanctions for non-compliance with prescribed obligations to media service providers – including the internet, television and social networks.

He presented a proposal to introduce mandatory six-month drug tests in secondary schools, as well as to organise special services and mobile teams for peer violence within social work centres, which would promptly respond to cases of peer violence.

The President also proposed to consider banning access to "dark net" websites and the like, which contain advice on how to commit murder, obtain drugs or weapons.