Vulin: No Boycott, Opposition Running for Election as Told to Do So by Embassies

Aleksandar Vulin (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

A Serbian deputy prime minister, Aleksandar Vulin, said on May 15 that local elections  scheduled for June 2 would not be boycotted, and that the opposition would run for office as “they were told to do so in U.S., British and German embassies."

Vulin said in an interview with the Happy TV that the goal of the opposition was to "overthrow" Aleksandar Vucic, even though it’s just a local vote the Serbian president is not taking part in.  "There will be no boycott, no one is boycotting these elections. Everyone’s running. They are aware that these are not communal elections. They want to win some cities and then demand new presidential and parliamentary elections," Vulin said.

When asked how he became a minister despite the U.S. sanctions imposed upon him last year, Vulin said he had been placed under the sanctions because he "fights for the Serbian world" and the United States didn’t like his ideas and rhetoric.

Vulin has been on the U.S. Department of the Treasury's sanctions list since July 11, 2023 for, as stated, "corrupt dealings" to further his own political agendas and personal interests at the expense of peace and stability in the Western Balkans. The U.S. State Department was openly disappointed when Vulin was nominated for offices in the new Serbian government.