Former Serbian intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has ties to the Kremlin and is subject to US sanctions, was named deputy prime minister on Thursday, according to AFP.
Aleksandar Vulin (right)Photo: Valeriy Sharifulin / Sputnik / Profimedia Images
The appointment comes after elections late last year were followed by weeks of protests and legal action over alleged fraud by President Aleksandar Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
Aleksandar Vulin is one of several people named this week to the new government, which also includes other ultranationalist and pro-Russian figures.
The government will be led by Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, a longtime Vucic ally and former defense minister.
The composition of the government was approved by 152 votes in the 250-seat assembly during a parliamentary session that began on Wednesday.
Facing pressure from Washington, Vulin resigned as intelligence chief in November.
“The United States and the European Union are asking for my head not to impose sanctions on Serbia,” he said in a statement shortly after his resignation.
Vulin has long been a staunch defender of the so-called “Serbian world”, a union of Serbs living in different countries, which his detractors say reflects Moscow’s idea of a “Russian world”.
Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012, but is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas for its energy needs.
The country has often deviated from Brussels’ foreign policy line, as recently when Belgrade refused to sanction the Kremlin after its invasion of Ukraine. However, he condemned Russian aggression at the United Nations.
Tags: Serbia spy sanctioned Washington appointed deputy prime minister
