Podgorica, (MINA) – The Government adopted on Thursday the Draft National Security Strategy of Montenegro, which, as announced, is a significant step towards improving the national security system and responding to contemporary security challenges.

 

Deputy Prime Minister for Security, Defense, Fight against Crime and Internal Affairs, Aleksa Becic, said at the press conference following the Government session, that at the proposal of his Office, the 44th Government had established the Interdepartmental Commission to revise strategic documents and by-laws regulating matters of importance to national security.

 

The Ministry of Defense stated in the press release that during the previous years, the Commission had analyzed the existing legal framework and the current National Security Strategy from 2018, with the participation of representatives of all relevant state institutions and authorities.

 

Becic said that the analysis had shown that the previous Strategy was adapted to the security environment at that time following Montenegro’s NATO accession, but that significant changes in the international and regional security environment, including war conflicts, organized crime and corruption, hybrid threats, cyberattacks, migration flows, the consequences of the pandemic and other modern challenges, had imposed the need to draft a new strategic document.

 

“The messages we have been receiving these days from our international partners, the senior NATO officials, send a clear message that the current leadership of the security and defense sector is building professional and resilient institutions capable of responding to today’s challenges”, said Becic.

 

According to him, the Bureau for Operational Coordination of the Intelligence and Security Sector recognized hybrid threats as one of the biggest security challenges of the modern era.

 

“That is why we proposed that the fight against hybrid activity be defined as one of the national priorities in the fight against serious and organized crime”, said Becic.

 

Minister of Defense Dragan Krapovic, presenting the key features of the new Strategy, emphasized that it is the result of thorough analyzis and comprehensive interdepartmental work, as well as that it introduces an improved and integrated concept of national resilience as one of the key pillars of the national security policy.

 

He said that the new Strategy more clearly defines national security interests, where the protection of the constitutional order, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state, safeguarding national identity, the environment and natural resources, as well as the preservation of democratic values ​​and the rule of law occupy a special place.

 

According to the Ministry, special emphasis is placed on hybrid and cyberattacks, organized crime, corruption and foreign malign influences.

 

It is emphasized that the Strategy is fully aligned with the NATO Strategic Concept and the EU security policies, reaffirming Montenegro’s commitment to strengthening collective security and European integration.