Sullivan: U.S. Sanctions Loom over Brother of Serbian President

Andrej Vucic (BETAPHOTO/BRANISLAV BOZIC/AV)

Drew Sullivan, one of the founders of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, told Nova.rs on Dec. 11 that U.S. sanctions loomed over Andrej Vucic, the brother of the Serbian president.

"We know that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, like many in the Kosovo government, have numerous ties to organized crime. We know that Vucic's brother Andrej has met Zvonko Veselinovic. They will likely be added to the list in the next few months or years," Sullivan told Nova.rs in an interview.

Commenting on a decision by the U.S. administration to introduce sanctions against Kosovo businessmen close to the ruling party, primarily Zvonko Veselinovic, Sullivan said he believed that the list would be expanded to include people close to Aleksandar Vucic - Nikola Petrovic and Andrej Vucic, Nova.rs reported. According to him, the U.S. government is identifying and introducing sanctions against persons who serve as links between the government and organized crime.

He said Vucic was employing the political strategy of his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who "regularly use their ties to organized crime as a covert arm of the government." "Governments like the U.S. and EU will probably not sanction Vucic. They have not sanctioned more important individuals, like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, or the godfather of all corrupt leaders -- Vladimir Putin," Sullivan added.