Vucic: US sanctions against Serbian Security Agency chief over Russian stance

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Serbian Security and Information Agency (Bezbednosno informativna agencija, BIA) Director Aleksandar Vulin over corruption and destabilisation, but Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said it is his stance on Russia that motivates it.

The OFAC announced that the sanctions against Vulin underscore the US’s 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.” The announcement underlined that Vulin’s actions facilitated Russian malign activities in Serbia and the region.

“Treasury will not hesitate to target actors that abuse their positions for personal gain while undermining effective and democratic governance in the Western Balkans,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson.

Vučić said that the American sanctions against Vulin, were not imposed because of any crime and corruption but because of his stance towards the Russian Federation.

As he pointed out, he did not notice “that the cocaine was found in Vulin’s office, but rather in the White House”, referring to the White House investigation after cocaine was recently found in the West Wing, RTS reported.

“I think it is very and important to carry out an investigation. I think they use some general article to write something,” Vučić added.

The Movement of Socialists, the party that Vulin founded 15 years ago, has announced that Vulin is an “honest and brave man whose time is yet to come.”

“So is the time of the unification of the Serbian world, which has already begun and cannot be stopped”, the party said in a press release.

Vulin, currently the director of BIA, has held positions as both defence and interior minister with OFAC stressing that these institutions are not the target of the sanctions.

The Chief of BIA has been implicated in transnational organised crime, illegal narcotics operations, and misuse of public office, the US states.

“Vulin has maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with U.S.-designated Serbian arms dealer Slobodan Tesic, helping ensure that Tesic’s illegal arms shipments can move freely across Serbia’s borders”, states the OFAC, adding that his acts have advanced corruption within Serbia’s governing institutions.

The acts listed include leveraging authority for personal gain, using a public position to support Russia and facilitating its malign activities that degrade the stability of the Western Balkans, while providing Russia with a platform to further its influence in the region.

Additionally, Vulin’s acts have advanced corruption within Serbia’s governing institutions, including leveraging his authority for personal gain, including involvement in a drug trafficking ring.

The implications include blocking off any property or interests in property in the US, also the obligation to report them to the OFAC.

“Any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50% or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by US persons within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited unless authorised by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt,” the statement tweeted by the US Embassy noted.

“The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person,” the statement added.

Engagement in particular transactions or activities with Vulin by individuals or financial institutions may result in sanctions against them or an enforcement action.

The removal of Vulin from the current position of director of BIA is one of the requests of the “Serbia against violence” protests that have been going on in Belgrade for the last ten weeks, since two mass shootings in May.

(Bojana Zimonjić Jelisavac, Milena Antonijević/EURACTIV.rs)