Aleksandar_Vulin

Aleksandar Vulin

Aleksandar Vulin

Serbian politician and lawyer

Aleksandar Vulin (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Вулин; born 2 October 1972) is a Serbian politician and lawyer who served as the director of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) from 1 December 2022 until 3 November 2023.[1][2] Additionally, he previously served as director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija from 2012 to 2013, minister without portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija from 2013 to 2014, minister of labour, employment, veteran and social policy from 2014 to 2017, minister of defence from 2017 to 2020, and as minister of internal affairs from 2020 to 2022. He has been called "man of Moscow".[3]

Quick Facts Director of the Security Intelligence Agency, Prime Minister ...

Vulin is the founder and former president of the Movement of Socialists (PS), a political party he headed from 2008 to 2022.[4] Vulin was a deputy of Mirjana Marković, the wife of Slobodan Milošević, and served as a high-ranking member of League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia (SK–PJ) and Yugoslav Left (JUL) parties, while in the 2000s, he was a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) before forming PS.

Early years

He was born in Lozovik, to Bosnian Serb parents. He finished primary school in Novi Sad, Grammar's School in Sremski Karlovci and later graduated from the University of Kragujevac Faculty of Law.[5] He stated that ever since his childhood "he has always been a communist". Vulin began his political career during the high school days in Novi Sad by supporting the anti-bureaucratic revolution led by Slobodan Milošević between 1986 and 1989.[6]

Political career

During the collapse of the communist Yugoslavia in 1990, Vulin joined the League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia, the so-called "army party" led by general Stevan Mirković. Vulin became a general secretary. In 1994, he was one of the founders of the Yugoslav Left, a party led by Mirjana Marković, the wife of Slobodan Milošević. In the new party, Vulin became a leader of the Revolutionary Youth, the party's youth organisation. He left the Yugoslav Left when it joined with the Milošević's Socialist Party to the coalition with the Vojislav Šešelj's Serbian Radical Party in 1998.[6]

Later he founded the Democratic Left, and then the Movement of Socialists in August 2008.[6]

In 2012, following the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election after which Serbian Progressive Party-led coalition took power, which consisted of Vulin's Movement of Socialists, Vulin was named the director of newly established Office for Kosovo and Metohija. He stayed on the position until 2 September 2013 when he became the Minister without portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija.

Following the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election, leader of the Serbian Progressive Party Aleksandar Vučić formed the government on 27 April 2014 with Vulin being named the Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy. He kept the office after the 2016 Serbian parliamentary election, in the second cabinet of Aleksandar Vučić.

During his time in the office as Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, he was known for his often and fierce criticism directed towards Croatia,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][excessive citations] as well as occasional insulting of Croatian politicians and officials.[15][16][17]

In June 2017, Aleksandar Vučić gave mandate to Ana Brnabić to form the governmental cabinet.[18] On 29 June 2017, the cabinet of Ana Brnabić was formed,[19] with Vulin swapping minister positions with Zoran Đorđević to become the Minister of Defence.[20]

On April 21, 2018, Vulin was proclaimed persona non grata in the Republic of Croatia[21] after saying: "only the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army – Aleksandar Vučić – can decide about me entering in Croatia, not Croatian ministers."[22]

In 2020, he was awarded Order of the Flag of Republika Srpska.[23]

In June 2021, Vulin spoke positive of Serbian irredentist idea of Greater Serbia by saying: "Greater Serbia never happened, otherwise we [the Serbs] would know where we live and which ethnic spaces belong to us".[24][25]

In August 2022, Vulin visited Moscow and proclaimed to Sergey Lavrov, "Serbia is the only state in Europe that didn’t introduce sanctions and was not part of the anti-Russian hysteria."[26]

Sanctions and resignation

On 11 July 2023 the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Vulin, accusing him of "corrupt and destabilizing acts that have also facilitated Russia's malign activities in the region", including "support for a drug trafficking network and support for illegal arms shipments involving Slobodan Tesic (Croatian: Slobodan Tešić) and the Belarus firm Beltechexport (Belarusian: «Белтэхэкспарт»)".[26][27][28][29][lower-alpha 1] On 3 November 2023, Vulin resigned from his position in the BIA, saying that he wanted to avoid possible further embargos against Serbia.[33] On 27 December, Milorad Dodik appointed him as member of the consultative Senate of Republika Srpska.[34]

On 30 January 2024, Vulin was awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian president Vladimir Putin. He received the award at the headquarters of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in Moscow, in a ceremony conducted by SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin, who cited Vulin's "continuous efforts to comprehensively develop Russian-Serbian relations and cooperation between the Russian and Serbian special services".[35]

Notes

  1. Slobodan Tešić (Serbian: Слободан Тешић; born 21 December 1958, Kiseljak, Bosnia and Herzegovina) was blacklisted by the United Nations from 2003 until 2013 for his illegal arms trading of supposedly Nigeria bound weapons shipments through his firm Temex that violated international sanctions and went instead to Liberia which became known as the Orao Affair.[29][30][31] In 2009, he allegedly attempted to supply Muammar el Gaddafi with $50 million worth of Zastava weapons and Sloboda missiles through his firm Melvale.[31] According to United Nations experts, Tesic allegedly sent 3,000 tonnes of Belarusian ammunition as well as Serbian small arms, light weapons and machine guns to Libya from 2013 to the summer of 2014 which, beginning in April 2014, supported not the Libyan army but Khaled Al Sharif and his support for an "autonomous armed group" that later led to a civil war between Sharif and his support for the Tripoli based Islamist regime against the internationally recognised government in Tobruk.[30] He is also the owner of the firm Vektura trans which allegedly supported arms shipments, including Krušiko mines and grenades, during July 2020 from Serbia to Armenia which were used in its conflict with Azerbaijan in the autumn of 2020.[31] He owns two Serbian companies, Partizan Tech and Technoglobal Systems DOO Beograd, and two Cyprus-based companies, the 2010 founded Limasoll based Grawit Limited and the 2012 founded Limassol based Charso Limited which were allegedly linked to funding for politicians and the Serbian Progressive Party.[29][32] He is under United States sanctions since 17 December 2017 and United Kingdom sanctions since 9 December 2022.[29][31][32]

References

  1. [1]
    "Head of Serbian intelligence service Vulin resigned due to US sanctions - Rossiyskaya Gazeta - ePrimefeed". 3 November 2023.
  2. [2]
    "SAZNAJEMO Aleksandar Vulin izabran za novog direktora BIA". NOVA portal (in Serbian). 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. [3]
    "Сербия назначила пророссийского политика новым руководителем разведки" [Serbia appoints pro-Russian politician as new intelligence chief]. Европейская правда (www.eurointegration.com.ua) (in Ukrainian). 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  4. [4]
    "Vulin podneo ostavku na mesto predsednika Pokreta socijalista". Danas (in Serbian). 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  5. [5]
    Profil
  6. [6]
    Vurušić, Vlado (25 June 2015). "Tko je zapravo Vučićev 'ministar za Hrvatsku'? Istina o jurišniku i radikalu na žeton Aleksandru Vulinu". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  7. [7]
    "Vulin: Hrvatska je uzrok nemira". Al Jazeera Balkans (in Bosnian). 21 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  8. [8]
    "Vulin: Koga Hrvatska planira da napadne novim oružjem? – B92.net". B92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  9. [9]
    "Vulin: Hrvatska nema snage da se otrgne od fašizma". Al Jazeera Balkans (in Bosnian). 31 July 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  10. [10]
    "Vulin traži od EU da intervenira jer je Hrvatska 'fašistička' država". direktno.hr (in Croatian). 18 December 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. [11]
    Komunikacije, Neomedia (18 December 2016). "Vulin: Neshvatljivo je da Hrvatska, kao zemlja članica EU, nije u stanju razračunati se s fašističkim nasljeđem / Novi list". www.novilist.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  12. [12]
    "Galerija – Vulin: Hrvatska humanost je trajala samo 2 dana, žao mi je | 24sata". www.24sata.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  13. [13]
    F.K. "Vulin: Hrvatska "potonula u ludilo"". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  14. [14]
    "Aleksandar Vulin: Neka Hrvatska liječi komplekse na nekom drugom". N1 HR (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  15. [15]
    "Skandalozan odgovor Vulina Stieru: Sada znamo što misle ustaški sinovi". Večernji.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  16. [16]
    "Vulin: Matić je neizlečiv ustaša". MTELBA. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  17. [17]
    "Vulin: Još uvijek čekam da Ante Gotovina kaže da nije ustaša". N1 HR (in Croatian). Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  18. [18]
    "Vučić: Kandidat za predsednika Vlade je Ana Brnabić". b92.net (in Serbian). 15 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  19. [19]
    "Kabinet Ane Brnabić položio zakletvu". danas.rs (in Serbian). Danas Online. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  20. [20]
    "Vulin i Đorđević zamenjuju mesta". danas.rs (in Serbian). FoNet. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  21. [21]
    "VULIN DO DALJNJEG NIJE POŽELJAN U HRVATSKOJ! Bit će vraćen s granice ako pokuša ući u državu". jutarnji.hr. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  22. [22]
    "HR: Vulin nije dobrodošao zbog "odlučuje Vučić, ne Zagreb"". B92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  23. [23]
    "Cvijanović dodelila odlikovanja povodom Dana Republike Srpske". N1 (in Serbian). 9 January 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  24. [24]
    "Vulin: Stvaranje srpskog svijeta najvažniji zadatak sadašnje generacije političara". vijesti.me (in Serbian). Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  25. [25]
    "VULIN GOVORI ONO ŠTO VUČIĆ MISLI: 'Velike Srbije, nažalost, nikad nije bilo, a najvažniji zadatak je stvaranje...'". slobodna-bosna.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  26. [26]
    Hussein, Fatima (11 July 2023). "US is sanctioning the pro-Russian head of Serbian intelligence for alleged corruption: The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the pro-Russian head of Serbian intelligence". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023 – via ABC News.
  27. [27]
    "Treasury Sanctions Official Linked to Corruption in Serbia". 11 July 2023.
  28. [28]
    "Aleksandar Vulin stavljen na listu američkih sankcija – šta piše u odluci" [Aleksandar Vulin placed on the US sanctions list - what is written in the decision]. Danas (www.danas.rs) (in Bosnian). 11 July 2023. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  29. [29]
    "Србија и продаја оружја: Слободан Тешић у 500 и 700 речи" [Serbia and arms sales: Slobodan Tešić in 500 and 700 words]. BBC (in Serbian). 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  30. [30]
    Angelovski, Ivan (23 February 2016). "Kidnap Deaths Spotlight Serbia-Libya Arms Deals: Links between arms deals and the kidnapping of two Serbian embassy employees killed in a US air strike on an ISIS camp are bringing fresh scrutiny to the controversial trade between Belgrade and Tripoli". balkaninsight.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  31. [31]
    "KO JE Слободан Тешић: Од кондуктера из Кисељака у БиХ до Вучићевог трговца оружјем: Власник фирме "Вектура транс" Слободан Тешић (62), један од финансијера Српске напредне странке, који је у више наврата довођен у везу са сумњивим аферама које се тичу трговине оружја, у центру скандала нашао се и крајем јула ове године након што је установљено да је његова компанија извозила наоружање у Јерменију, која је тренутно у сукобу са Азербејџаном" [WHO IS Slobodan Tešić: From a conductor from Kiseljak in BiH to Vučić's arms dealer: The owner of the company "Vektura trans" Slobodan Tešić (62), one of the financiers of the Serbian Progressive Party, who was repeatedly linked to suspicious affairs related to arms trade, found himself at the center of the scandal at the end of July this year after it was established that his company exported weapons to Armenia, which is currently in conflict with Azerbaijan]. srbin.info (in Serbian). 8 August 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  32. [32]
    Zivanovic, Maja (21 December 2017). "US Blacklists Serbian Arms Dealer Tesic: The US on Thursday listed Slobodan Tesic among a host of world figures blacklisted as human rights abusers and corrupt actors, calling him 'one of the biggest arms dealers in the Balkans'". balkaninsight.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023.
  33. [33]
    "Serbia's pro-Russia intelligence chief sanctioned by the US has resigned citing Western pressure". Associated Press. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  34. [34]
    sarajevotimes
  35. [35]
    "Putin Awards Former Serbian Spy Chief Order of 'Friendship'". The Moscow Times. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
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