Podgorica, Montenegro:

A gunman who killed at least 10 people in a rampage in a small town in Montenegro died from self-inflicted injuries on Thursday after attempting suicide, the country’s interior minister, Danilo Saranovic, said. The gunman, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45, attempted suicide near his home in the town of Cetinje after being cornered by police.

“When he saw that he was in a hopeless situation, he attempted suicide. He did not succumb to his injuries on the spot, but during the transport to hospital,” Saranovic told Montenegro’s state broadcaster, RTCG.

Saranovic provided no details on the attempted suicide.

Martinovic was on the run after opening fire on Wednesday afternoon at a restaurant in Cetinje, a small town located 38 km (23.6 miles) west of Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, where he killed four people.

The shooter then moved on to three other locations, killing at least six more people, including two children, police said. Four other people suffered life-threatening injuries.

Police said Martinovic had a history of illegal weapons possession.

Late on Wednesday, police director Lazar Scepanovic said the suspect was thought to have been drinking heavily before the shooting. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said there had been a brawl before shots were fired.

Police said the shooting was not thought to be connected to organised crime.

Mass shootings are comparatively rare in Montenegro, which has a deeply rooted gun culture. In 2022, also in Cetinje, 11 people, including two children and a gunman, were killed in a mass attack.

Wednesday’s incident shocked the country of 605,000 people. Spajic called the rampage a “terrible tragedy” and declared three days of national mourning. President Jakov Milatovic said he was “horrified” by the attack.

Despite strict gun laws, the Western Balkans composed of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia, remain awash with weapons. Most are from the bloody wars in the 1990s, but some date back even to World War One.

Spajic said authorities would consider tightening criteria for owning and carrying firearms, including the possibility of a complete ban on weapons.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center left, reviews the honour guard with Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatovic in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, on Oct. 31, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Montenegro’s new government was confirmed on October 31, with the Prime Minister promising to unblock the Balkan nation’s stalled European Union integration process as a top EU official was set to hold talks in the small NATO member country.

Parliament approved the new Cabinet with 46 votes in favour and 19 against after a session that lasted all night. Montenegro’s Assembly has 81 members but not all were present at the vote.

The government was formed after months of political bickering that followed an election in June. The centrist Europe Now party of Prime Minister Milojko Spajic won the election but without enough support to form a government on its own.

To form the government, the winning coalition received backing from staunchly anti-Western groups under the condition that one of their leaders, Andrija Mandic, was elected as the speaker of parliament — an influential political position.

Mr. Spajic said his government would be pro-European despite Mandic’s election. He dismissed reports that his Cabinet would be influenced by neighbouring Serbia, from which Montenegro split in 2006 after an independence referendum.

“We can’t wait to make a result for our country,” Mr. Spajic told reporters. “We hope to unclog the European integration, move forward quickly and become the next member of the European Union.”

Mr. Spajic spoke shortly before EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was set to hold talks in the capital, Podgorica, as part of a tour of Western Balkan nations aspiring to join the 27-nation union. Ms. Von der Leyen visited North Macedonia and Kosovo before Montenegro and is slated to travel to Serbia later on Tuesday.

Six Western Balkan countries are at different stages on their path to join the EU, in a process expected to take years.

As the war rages in Ukraine, EU officials recently have sought to push the process forward and encourage Balkan nations to boost reform to join. Ms. Von der Leyen was discussing details of the 6 billion-euro ($6.37 billion) package for Western Balkan countries, along with tensions that still exist in the region long after ethnic wars of the 1990s.

Recent violence and tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have been high on von der Leyen’s agenda as the EU seeks to negotiate a solution for the dispute. Kosovo split from Serbia in 2008 but Belgrade has refused to recognize the former province’s independence.

In Montenegro, U.S. and EU officials have suggested that the country, should avoid introducing an anti-NATO and anti-Western political party into its coalition if it wants to join the bloc.

Mr. Mandic had called for close ties with Russia rather than the EU, criticized Montenegro’s NATO membership and was against splitting from Serbia. But, when elected as Parliament Speaker on Monday, Mr. Mandic said he is ready to “send some new messages.”

Hundreds of opposition supporters waving Montenegrin flags staged a protest in front of the parliament building in the capital against the new government. Opposition lawmakers criticized the new government as anti-European because of the participation of pro-Serb parties.