Sky messages cited in investigative reporting have raised serious questions about Aleksandar Vučić’s alleged connections to criminal networks, with references to Milan Radoičić, members of the president’s family and people associated with convicted drug trafficker Darko Šarić. But the bigger question remains: who protects whom in Serbia’s system of power?
For years, Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) have presented themselves as defenders of law and order. Yet the latest revelations about encrypted Sky communications paint a deeply troubling picture of alleged contacts between individuals linked to criminal networks and people said to be close to Serbia’s political leadership.
Among the most politically explosive details is a message exchanged on June 3, 2020, in which Darko Šarić reportedly referred to a person named Milan before explicitly identifying “Oscar” as Vučić.
According to the published correspondence, Šarić wrote: “We call Vučić Oscar,” adding that “Oscar” was the person deciding matters concerning him. The publication identifies the Milan mentioned in the exchange as Milan Radoičić, citing unofficial information.
That identification is important, but it must be distinguished from what the message itself establishes. The excerpt does not prove the precise nature of Radoičić’s relationship with Šarić. It does, however, raise an uncomfortable question: what contacts existed between people associated with Serbia’s political establishment and individuals whose names appeared in the communications of a convicted drug trafficker?
And why does the name Radoičić continue to appear at the centre of questions about political influence and accountability in the region?
Radoičić: From Belgrade’s political orbit to the Banjska attack
Milan Radoičić is no marginal figure in Kosovo–Serbia relations. A former deputy leader of the Serbian List, he has long been associated with Belgrade’s political influence among Kosovo Serbs.
His name became internationally prominent after the September 24, 2023, armed attack in Banjska, northern Kosovo, in which Kosovo Police Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed. Radoičić claimed responsibility for leading the armed group involved in the attack, and Kosovo authorities have pursued criminal proceedings against him and other suspects.
The contrast is stark: a figure associated with Belgrade’s political establishment, who acknowledged leading the armed group involved in a deadly attack against Kosovo Police, now also appears in reporting about encrypted messages linked to a convicted drug trafficker.
These are separate cases, and the Sky messages do not establish Radoičić’s involvement in Šarić’s criminal activities. But the overlap of political connections and unresolved questions about accountability makes transparency essential.
Who gave Radoičić political protection for so long? What did Belgrade know about his activities? And why has accountability for the Banjska attack remained such a central unresolved issue between Kosovo and Serbia?
These are questions that cannot be brushed aside with political denials or nationalist rhetoric.
Veselinović and the wider network of influence
Another name that deserves scrutiny in the broader discussion of Serbia’s political-criminal networks is Zvonko Veselinović, a Kosovo Serb businessman who has been sanctioned by the United States over alleged organized-crime activities and corruption. US authorities have also sanctioned Radoičić in connection with organized crime.
Veselinović and Radoičić have repeatedly been discussed in reporting about networks of political influence, business interests and organized crime in northern Kosovo. Their reported connections to the Serbian political establishment have long raised questions about how power operates beyond formal government structures.
It is important to be precise: the Sky excerpts discussed above do not independently establish that Veselinović participated in the conversations or arrangements described by Šarić. His name belongs to the broader context of allegations and sanctions concerning organized crime and political influence, not to a proven link established by those specific messages.
Nevertheless, the political question remains unavoidable. When figures facing serious allegations or international sanctions are also associated with influential political circles, the public has every reason to demand answers about their access to power, their business interests and the degree of accountability they face.
The issue is not merely who knows whom. It is whether political connections allow powerful individuals to operate beyond the reach of the law.
“Oscar” and the alleged promise of a pardon
The same investigation raises further questions about Vučić.
None of these issues should be collapsed into a single allegation without evidence. But neither should they be dismissed simply because they are politically inconvenient.
Serbia’s leadership must answer a fundamental question: how can it claim to defend the rule of law while serious allegations continue to surround individuals associated with its political orbit?
For Kosovo, the stakes are particularly high. The Banjska terrorist attack was not an abstract political controversy; a Kosovo police officer lost his life. Accountability for those responsible, transparency about the networks behind the attack and scrutiny of the political relationships surrounding Radoičić remain essential.
The region does not need another round of denials, propaganda or carefully staged political statements. It needs evidence, independent investigations and justice.
If the law applies equally to everyone, why do questions about the powerful keep returning and who will finally be held accountable?
Sources: Investigative reporting on the Sky correspondence published by Radar; US Treasury sanctions announcements concerning Zvonko Veselinović and Milan Radoičić; and official statements by Kosovo authorities concerning the Banjska attack.
