Opposition calls for Vulin dismissal over US sanctions

“In any normal country, the government would fall and the president would resign,” Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) deputy leader Marinika Tepic said in a written statement, adding that she and her associates have been warning of the illegal activities of Vulin and his closest associates for years.

Tepic said that the fact that he was a cabinet minister and now head of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) proves that he is a close associate of President Aleksandar Vucic.

Tepic recalled the incident when a police sniffer dog reacted to then Internal Affairs Minister Vulin. “The damage to Serbia’s reputation is huge and serious independent investigations are needed now to see how compromised the state system is because of the shameful illegal dealings Aleksandar Vulin was involved in,” she said.

Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) leader Pavle Grbovic said that “it’s clear that Vulin is a threat to the security of Serbia and the region”. According to him it was just a matter of time when this would have happened.

The PSG is demanding Vulin’s dismissal as BIA director. “This is a person who hasn’t got a single qualification for a post in the BIA. It’s clear that this is a person who jeopardizes the security of all Serbian citizens because he is in that post,” Grbovic told N1. He noted that Vulin has not appeared in public for a long time and added that he is not concerned by his absence but by the fact that he holds a very important post.

Grbovic said that some international security organizations aren’t cooperating with Serbia “because one person who is absolutely unreliable politically and in every other sense is at the helm of that extremely important institution”.

Zdravko Ponos’ Srce movement also called for Vulin’s dismissal and the accountability of President Vucic who brought a man accused of involvement with organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking to head the BIA.

It warned that Vulin is now susceptible to blackmail and failure to dismiss him inflicts damage on Serbia‘s foreign police interests.“Vulin has to be dismissed to control the damage to Serbia‘s interests if he remains in the post,“ a press release said adding that the decision to impose sanctions must have come after warnings. “If Vulin isn’t dismissed, Vucic will become more susceptible to blackmail and Serbia will be more vulnerable,” it said.