Milanović: There is a lot of weapons among people in Serbia, and that is a problem

(Patria) - Croatian President Zoran Milanović was at the ceremonial session of the Pula City Council. Journalists asked him for a comment on the tragic events in Serbia beforehand.

- If a rifle is on the wall, in the third act, it will most likely go off, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. That's terrible, said Milanović.

The internet will not make people murderers

He believes that weapons belong in the hands and under the control of qualified people - police, army - "I wouldn't give them to anyone at home."

He recounted that his family experience was that people came back from the war and got rid of their weapons so that no one, especially children, would get hold of them.

- Serbia is a country where there are a lot of weapons among people. And that is a problem. I think I said this here too, they were killing each other in America even before the invention of the telephone.

The internet will not make people murderers. This in Serbia seems to me that they had role models at home, in a way. They certainly weren't encouraged to kill people, but children must be kept away from weapons. In my opinion, every weapon is superfluous, and that's not how you become cool or a man, said Milanović.

He also assesses that the protocols regarding violence in schools are rigorous, recalling that it was once normal for boys to fight.

- It's not like that today, and if it happens at school and within school grounds, then protocols are written, psychologists and pedagogues are called in, said Milanović.

He adds that children's mental health is not a taboo topic either.

- There is much more talk about it than when I was 15 years old. Little was said about it, and there was a completely different ethos and a completely different way of upbringing. It was significantly different at the turn of the 70s and 80s. But there was no violence, he stated.

It is important that weapons are under control

He emphasized that whoever came to Croatia from the West wondered "how can you be out at 10 PM" and noted that it is still the case.

- It is important that weapons are under control, that there are none among the people... Croatia has been resistant to these things so far. With the entry into Schengen, it is very important that the regime for holding weapons is the same in all countries.

What's the point if it's one way here, if a country 500 km away is much more liberal, if those weapons can be brought into Croatia. Australia is a good example of zero tolerance for weapons. It used to be a well-armed country.

We are talking about weapons, ownership and possession by the civilian population, that a few incidents completely 30-40 years ago turned things around, and now, practically, you can't get a rifle, Milanović said.

Asked to comment on the statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić that he asked the government to introduce the death penalty, but they refused, Milanović said - "let's move on to serious topics, I am against the death penalty."

- People are killed in war. And people very quickly, unfortunately, acclimatize to it like animals with some primary instincts that are not lurking within us, but are at high alert.

Therefore, they should not be discouraged by the death penalty. That is the worst thing. Nothing is achieved by it. By that standard, America is not a democratic country, they kill people. Not even Russia has it...

You see a speck in someone else's eye, but you don't see a log in your own. The death penalty is a disaster, Milanović assessed.