The inclusion of two individuals who are under sanctions from the United States, mainly due to their ties with Russia: Aleksandar Vulin as deputy prime minister and Nenad Popoviq as minister without portfolio in Serbia’s new government, security expert Bedri Elezi sees as a clear message from the Serbian state towards the United States and the European Union.
“The fact that the Government of Serbia is determined in opposition, we can say, to the actions of the American government, specifically the U.S. State Department, which has now sanctioned two members of the Serbian government, who despite being sanctioned by the USA, are members and important figures in the Serbian government. Serbia has wanted to show the USA that it will not consider all those punitive actions that will be taken against its citizens or officials and that it is ready to take Russia’s side,” Elezi expresses to “Bota sot.”
According to him, Vulin and Popoviq as well as the new Serbian prime minister come from the Novi Sad clan, a clan that, as Elezi says, controls everything in Serbia.
“Also, the placement of these two individuals at the helm of institutions in the Serbian government, along with the Serbian Prime Minister, all coming from the Novi Sad clan, a clan that, we can say, controls public, security, and criminal life in Serbia and beyond. It is even mentioned that this clan has extended activities in several European Union countries, such as Austria, Czechia, and Slovakia, where various criminal activities are organized. Moreover, it has activities in different countries in the region, such as Romania and Moldova, where Belarus, Kazakhstan, and countries with which this group or clan interacts by organizing various criminal activities such as drug possession and distribution, human trafficking, and organizing various escorts for different sexual services,” Elezi declares.
“This powerful clan with significant economic resources, I believe, now controls the situation in Serbia and is directly supported by Putin’s criminal groups, which have decided to control the Serbian government. Furthermore, he says that the new Serbian government is proving its willingness to serve Russia’s interests in the Balkans.
“We may suspect that we could have even more serious activities in the Balkans, but from these actions of the Serbian government, which means they are ready to serve Russia for activities that initially may undermine security in the region in general and then become important for Russia to reposition itself as a significant security and political factor in the Balkans, and at the same time to threaten both the Balkans and the European Union, which have recently decided to support Ukraine’s activities against the Russian war, which seeks to take certain areas in Ukraine,” Elezi emphasizes.
“We have seen that the United States and the European Union have approved strong packages to support Ukraine in its war, and this is a sure sign that Ukraine may succeed, and Russia may use its satellite, Serbia, to distract European security forces from developments in Ukraine, and at the same time, destabilize European Union policies regarding support for Ukraine’s war against Russia,” concludes security expert Bedri Elezi for “Bota sot”.
