The US administration’s decision to sanction Aleksandar Vulin, head of the Serbian intelligence agency BIA, could be a turning point and indicate that the US has decided to call Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to account for his internal, regional and international policies, American foreign policy expert Edward P Joseph said in an interview for Demostat.
“Allowing Vucic and his deputies like Vulin to be irresponsible is not a way to advance in politics regarding Russia, Kosovo, Serbian democracy or other important matters in the Serbian-American relationship. I think that the US has more than shown that it wants friendly relations with Serbia. Now is the time for President Vucic to be held accountable for his government’s obligations,” Joseph was quoted as saying.
He also said it was essential that the EU and the US force Belgrade and Pristina to agree on a firm order of implementation of the Ohrid Agreement and that each side must have guarantees that the other will also implement what was agreed upon.
To remind, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the head of Serbia’s top civilian security agency Aleksandar Vulin for “corrupt dealing which facilitate Russian malign activities in Serbia and the region”.
“The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an individual in Serbia pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14033. The designation of Aleksandar Vulin underscores the United States’ determination to hold accountable those engaged in corrupt dealings that further their own political agendas and personal interests at the expense of peace and stability in the Western Balkans. These corrupt dealings facilitate Russian malign activities in Serbia and the region,” a press release said. The sanctions include the blocking of all of Vulin’s assets in the US.
It said that Vulin (head of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) and a former cabinet minister) has been implicated in transnational organized crime, illegal narcotics operations, and misuse of public office. “Vulin has maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with US-designated Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tesic, helping ensure that Tesic’s illegal arms shipments can move freely across Serbia’s borders,” the press release said adding that he advanced corruption within Serbia’s governing institutions and was involved in a drug trafficking ring.
(N1, 23.07.2023)
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