Aleksandar Vulin announces his candidacy for president of Serbia

Aleksandar Vulin, leader of the Movement of Socialists, a former minister in several governments and former head of Serbia’s Security Information Agency (BIA), has announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections in Serbia, as the BBC in Serbian reports.

The announcement was made on Sunday at his party’s rally named “Serbian World”, held in Belgrade. “I want to believe that every future president will be a president of the Serbian World, and if you give me your support, I want to run for president of Serbia,” Vulin told supporters, adding that “the Serbian World has the right to have its own candidate, its own voice.”

According to the BBC’s reporting, Vulin called on party members and sympathisers to vote in the snap parliamentary elections of 25 October for the “United Serbia” list, led by Aleksandar Vucic. He said political differences would never prevent them from ensuring that Serbia does not impose sanctions on Russia and does not introduce visas for Russian or Chinese citizens “because some Europeans demand it”, criticising the Student List as “more willing to listen to Europe than to anyone in Serbia.”

The presidential elections have not yet been officially called, but they are expected to be held in December, following Vucic’s resignation on 27 September — the office of president is currently exercised by Ana Brnabic. The candidates of the two main rivals according to forecasts, the SNS and the Student List, are not yet known, the BBC notes.

Vulin is one of the most controversial figures in Serbian politics: since the SNS came to power in 2012, he has headed the Office for Kosovo, has been minister of Labour, of Defence and of Internal Affairs, and then head of the BIA. The United States has placed him under sanctions, accusing him of involvement in transnational organised crime, illegal drug operations and abuse of public office — accusations he denies. Russian President Vladimir Putin has awarded him the Order of Friendship for cooperation between the two countries’ secret services.