Aleksandar Vulin Explained

Aleksandar Vulin
Native Name Lang:sr
Office1:Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
Primeminister1:Miloš Vučević
Term Start1:2 May 2024
Office2:Director of the Security Intelligence Agency
Primeminister2:Ana Brnabić
Term Start2:1 December 2022
Term End2:3 November 2023
Predecessor2:Bratislav Gašić
Successor2:Tomislav Radovanović (acting), later Vladimir Orlić
Office3:Minister of Internal Affairs
Primeminister3:Ana Brnabić
Term Start3:28 October 2020
Term End3:26 October 2022
Predecessor3:Nebojša Stefanović
Successor3:Bratislav Gašić
Office4:Minister of Defence
Primeminister4:Ana Brnabić
Term Start4:29 June 2017
Term End4:28 October 2020
Predecessor4:Zoran Đorđević
Successor4:Nebojsa Stefanovic
Office5:Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy
Primeminister5:Aleksandar Vučić
Ivica Dačić (acting)
Term Start5:27 April 2014
Term End5:29 June 2017
Predecessor5:Jovan Krkobabić
Successor5:Zoran Đorđević
Office6:Minister without portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija
Primeminister6:Ivica Dačić
Term Start6:2 September 2013
Term End6:27 April 2014
Office7:Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija
Term Start7:27 July 2012
Term End7:2 September 2013
Predecessor7:Post established
Successor7:Marko Đurić
Birth Date:2 October 1972
Birth Place:Novi Sad, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Alma Mater:University of Kragujevac
Occupation:Politician
Profession:Lawyer

Aleksandar Vulin (Serbian: Александар Вулин; born 2 October 1972) is a Serbian politician and lawyer. Serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia since 2024. He 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]

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 Novi Sad,[5] [6] to Bosnian Serb parents. He finished primary school in Novi Sad, grammar school in Sremski Karlovci and later graduated from the University of Kragujevac Faculty of Law.[7] 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.[8]

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.[8]

Later he founded the Democratic Left, and then the Movement of Socialists in August 2008.[8]

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,[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] as well as occasional insulting of Croatian politicians and officials.[17] [18] [19] On April 21, 2018, Vulin was proclaimed persona non grata in the Republic of Croatia[20] after saying: "only the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army – Aleksandar Vučić – can decide about me entering in Croatia, not Croatian ministers."[21]

In June 2017, Aleksandar Vučić gave mandate to Ana Brnabić to form the governmental cabinet.[22] On 29 June 2017, the cabinet of Ana Brnabić was formed,[23] with Vulin swapping minister positions with Zoran Đorđević to become the Minister of Defence.[24]

In 2020, he was awarded Order of the Flag of Republika Srpska.[25]

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".[26] [27]

In August 2022, Vulin visited Moscow and proclaimed to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, "Serbia is the only state in Europe that didn’t introduce sanctions and was not part of the anti-Russian hysteria."[28]

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»)".[28] [29] [30] [31] On 3 November 2023, Vulin resigned from his position in the BIA, saying that he wanted to avoid possible further embargos against Serbia.[32] On 27 December, Milorad Dodik appointed him as member of the consultative Senate of Republika Srpska.[33]

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".[34]

Return to government

On 30 April 2024, Vulin was named as one of several deputy prime ministers in the incoming government of Miloš Vučević.[35] In June, Vulin visited Moscow. During the visit, he laid a wreath on the grave of Joseph Stalin.[36]

Works

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Head of Serbian intelligence service Vulin resigned due to US sanctions - Rossiyskaya Gazeta - ePrimefeed . 3 November 2023 .
  2. Web site: 2022-12-01 . SAZNAJEMO Aleksandar Vulin izabran za novog direktora BIA . 2022-12-01 . NOVA portal . sr-RS.
  3. News: Сербия назначила пророссийского политика новым руководителем разведки . Serbia appoints pro-Russian politician as new intelligence chief . uk . Европейская правда (www.eurointegration.com.ua) . 2 December 2022 . 15 July 2023 . 15 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230715150709/https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/rus/news/2022/12/2/7151713/.
  4. Web site: 2022-12-05 . Vulin podneo ostavku na mesto predsednika Pokreta socijalista . 2022-12-05 . Danas . sr-RS.
  5. Web site: Александар Вулин . 2024-07-27 . Покрет Социјалиста . sr-RS.
  6. Web site: srbija.gov.rs . Александар Вулин . 2024-07-27 . www.srbija.gov.rs . sr.
  7. http://www.mod.gov.rs/cir/4304/ministar-odbrane-4304 Profil
  8. News: Vurušić . Vlado . Tko je zapravo Vučićev 'ministar za Hrvatsku'? Istina o jurišniku i radikalu na žeton Aleksandru Vulinu . hr . Jutarnji list . 25 June 2015 . 25 June 2015.
  9. News: Vulin: Hrvatska je uzrok nemira. 2015-04-21. Al Jazeera Balkans. 2017-04-23. bs.
  10. News: Vulin: Koga Hrvatska planira da napadne novim oružjem? – B92.net. B92.net. 2017-04-23. sr-Latn-RS.
  11. News: Vulin: Hrvatska nema snage da se otrgne od fašizma. 2016-07-31. Al Jazeera Balkans. 2017-04-23. bs.
  12. News: Vulin traži od EU da intervenira jer je Hrvatska 'fašistička' država. 2016-12-18. direktno.hr. 2017-04-23. hr.
  13. Web site: Vulin: Neshvatljivo je da Hrvatska, kao zemlja članica EU, nije u stanju razračunati se s fašističkim nasljeđem / Novi list. Komunikacije. Neomedia. www.novilist.hr. 18 December 2016 . hr-HR. 2017-04-23.
  14. Web site: Galerija – Vulin: Hrvatska humanost je trajala samo 2 dana, žao mi je 24sata. www.24sata.hr. hr. 2017-04-23.
  15. News: Vulin: Hrvatska "potonula u ludilo". F.K.. 2017-04-23. en-gb. https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051529/http://www.starmo.ba/politika2/item/56408-vulin-hrvatska-potonula-u-ludilo.html. 2017-12-22. dead.
  16. News: Aleksandar Vulin: Neka Hrvatska liječi komplekse na nekom drugom. N1 HR. 2017-04-23. hr.
  17. News: Skandalozan odgovor Vulina Stieru: Sada znamo što misle ustaški sinovi. Večernji.hr. 2017-04-23. hr.
  18. News: Vulin: Matić je neizlečiv ustaša. MTELBA. 2017-04-23. en-US.
  19. News: Vulin: Još uvijek čekam da Ante Gotovina kaže da nije ustaša. N1 HR. 2017-04-23. hr.
  20. News: VULIN DO DALJNJEG NIJE POŽELJAN U HRVATSKOJ! Bit će vraćen s granice ako pokuša ući u državu . 2018-04-21 . jutarnji.hr . en.
  21. News: HR: Vulin nije dobrodošao zbog "odlučuje Vučić, ne Zagreb" . 2018-04-21 . B92.net . sr-Latn-RS.
  22. News: Vučić: Kandidat za predsednika Vlade je Ana Brnabić. 29 June 2017. b92.net. 15 June 2017. sr.
  23. News: Kabinet Ane Brnabić položio zakletvu. 29 June 2017. danas.rs. Danas Online. sr.
  24. News: Vulin i Đorđević zamenjuju mesta. 29 June 2017. danas.rs. FoNet. 27 June 2017. sr.
  25. Web site: 2020-01-09. Cvijanović dodelila odlikovanja povodom Dana Republike Srpske. 2021-01-08. N1. sr-RS.
  26. Web site: Vulin: Stvaranje srpskog svijeta najvažniji zadatak sadašnje generacije političara. 2021-06-14. vijesti.me. sr.
  27. Web site: VULIN GOVORI ONO ŠTO VUČIĆ MISLI: 'Velike Srbije, nažalost, nikad nije bilo, a najvažniji zadatak je stvaranje...'. 2021-06-14. slobodna-bosna.ba. bs-BA.
  28. News: Hussein . Fatima . 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 . . . 11 July 2023 . 15 July 2023 . 15 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230715144717/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-sanctioning-pro-russian-head-serbian-intelligence-alleged-101095693.
  29. Web site: Treasury Sanctions Official Linked to Corruption in Serbia . 11 July 2023.
  30. News: 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 . bs . Danas (www.danas.rs) . 11 July 2023 . 15 July 2023 . 25 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230925183404/https://www.danas.rs/vesti/politika/aleksandar-vulin-stavljen-na-listu-americkih-sankcija/.
  31. News: Србија и продаја оружја: Слободан Тешић у 500 и 700 речи . Serbia and arms sales: Slobodan Tešić in 500 and 700 words . sr . . 13 December 2019 . 15 July 2023 . 15 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230715152706/https://www.bbc.com/serbian/cyr/srbija-50728385.
  32. News: Serbia's pro-Russia intelligence chief sanctioned by the US has resigned citing Western pressure . . 4 November 2023 . 4 November 2023 .
  33. https://sarajevotimes.com/dodik-appointed-the-former-director-of-serbian-intelligence-agency-as-senator/ sarajevotimes
  34. News: Putin Awards Former Serbian Spy Chief Order of 'Friendship' . . 31 January 2024 . 1 February 2024 .
  35. News: Serbia's new government to include US-sanctioned ex-intelligence chief with close ties to Russia . . 30 April 2024 . 30 April 2024 .
  36. Web site: Đošić . Miloš . 2024-06-13 . Prvi put u istoriji: Vulin položio venac na Staljinov grob, kakvu poruku je poslao time . 2024-06-13 . N1 . sr-RS.