Aleksandar Vulin, the director of the Serbian Intelligence, was subject to sanctions last month by the US. According to a statement from Washington regarding Vulin’s sanctions, he is involved in international organized crime, illegal drug trafficking, and abuse of public office. The US statement added that among other things, that Vulin has utilized his public positions to help Russia, facilitating Russia’s nefarious operations that weaken the security and stability of the Western Balkans and giving Russia a platform to increase its influence in the region. Since 2012, Aleksandar Vulin has been in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in addition to leading other significant Serbian government departments during his political career. He is well-known for his numerous trips to Russia and contacts with influential figures in Moscow.
Serbian politician and spy chief Aleksandar Vulin was the first to publicly use the term “Serbian world” which envisions the formal unification of all Serb-majority areas in the Western Balkans, he had shown this idea while holding the post of Minister of the Interior in the government of Serbia in 2020. Aleksandar Rakovic, a conservative Serbian historian, was the one who initially proposed this program. This was swiftly accepted by Vulin. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ethnic-nationalist aspirations and territorial claims for the construction of a “Greater Serbia” have increased even more, posing a threat to the stability of the Western Balkans. Meanwhile, since July, Serbian flag-covered graffiti with the words “Kad se vojska na Kosovo vrati,” or “when the Serbian army returns to Kosovo,” has been appearing in Belgrade and other places around the country. The same graffiti have appeared in several places in Moscow.
On the other hand, in Belgrade, the Vulin sanction was interpreted differently by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who, apart from not mentioning organized crime and illegal narcotics operations at all, claims that the Director of the Security and Intelligence Agency of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, was sanctioned only for his ties to Russia. Apart from the fact that he has not been suspended from his position, or started the investigation process for possible drug trafficking and abuse of office, Vulin has been praised by his boss Vucic. Immediately after Vucic’s statement in defense of Vulin, the media and pro-government propaganda of social networks, committed themselves to portraying Vulin as a victim to the public for maintaining ties with Russia. Also the Socialist Movement, political party that Vulin founded 15 years ago, defended him in a post, presenting him as “an honest and brave man whose time has not yet come”.
Read also: Will gun violence trigger change in Serbia?
If anyone is unsure as to whether Vulin was sanctioned for his connections to Russia or for trafficking in illegal drugs and weapons, the answer is that he was sanctioned for both. We’d like to remind you that, during a police ceremony last year, the dog from the anti-drug unit barked when Interior Minister Aleksander Vulin approached. The video that resulted went popular on social media. The US-designated Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tesic and Vulin are reported to have maintained mutually beneficial relationship that allowed Tesic’s illegitimate arms shipments to pass unhindered through Serbian borders. The United States’ decision to sanction the head of Serbia’s intelligence, who is also Aleksandar Vucic’s closest ally, is a sign that Milosevic’s political generation needs to be replaced by a pro-Europeans. Official Belgrade has so far refused to join the international sanctions against Moscow, and it has also not shown any interest in the rapprochement of policies with the EU since it is a candidate country for membership. Military images and exposure of the army and weaponry are often displayed on social networks by Serbian President Aleksander Vucic, proclaiming Serbia’s readiness to confront any aggressor, as he himself says. But in fact, none of the neighbors threaten Serbia with war, it’s the opposite.
