Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that “it is extremely important to carry out an investigation” into the director of the Security and Information Agency (BIA), Aleksandar Vulin, after the United States imposed sanctions against him.
“I did not notice that cocaine was found in Vulin’s office, but in the White House. But I think it is extremely important to conduct an investigation,” said Vučić, in his first reaction after the US imposed sanctions on Vulin.
Earlier, the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the US Department of the Treasury said that Vulin has been involved in corrupt affairs “to advance his political agenda and personal interests at the expense of peace and stability in the Western Balkans”.
Vučić did not answer journalists whether Vulin should be dismissed after the imposition of US sanctions.
He said that he will talk about the sanctions against Vulin and Serbia’s position “tomorrow, in detail”.
“Vulin, no sanctions have been imposed on him for any crime, corruption, anything; sanctions have been imposed on him because of his attitude towards the Russian Federation,” said Vučić.
A part of the opposition in Serbia demanded the dismissal of Vulin after the US sanctions.
Vulin, president of the Socialist Party, which is a coalition partner of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, was put in charge of the Security and Information Agency in December 2022.
The Director of this agency is appointed and dismissed by the Government.
A former collaborator of Mirjana Marković, wife of Slobodan Milošević, Vulin is currently a coalition partner of the Serbian Progressive Party in power.
On 10 May, the European Parliament adopted a resolution expressing concern over Vulin’s appointment as the head of BIA, describing him in the resolution text as a person “known for his rhetoric against the EU and pro-Kremlin views”.
Vulin is known to the general public for his harsh rhetoric towards his neighbors in the region and his friendship with Russia.
In one of the recent criticisms against him, the embassies of Ukraine and the United States in Belgrade, as well as the EU, criticized Vulin’s participation in the international security conference in Moscow in May of this year.
