The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has several jokers that he pulls out of his pocket and sends into battle when he needs to defend himself and "skip" some unfavorable moments and events.
We should not underestimate Sinisha Mali (proud owner of 24 apartments in Bulgaria), Bratislav Gasic (who "loves journalists who kneel easily"), Ana Burnabic (in recent years he protects and loves the president more than himself), and then various third-rate figures... but Vucic's namesake Aleksandar Vulin is without a doubt his most reliable and valuable player, a specialist for the most difficult tasks, who will rush in with insults, blows, nationalistic and chauvinistic outbursts where others would not even dared, even Vucic himself.
Serbs have risen up in recent weeks over lithium mining and (again) taking away the normal lives of citizens. Promises of prosperity are increasingly vague. In neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are "continuous attacks" against one of Vucic's favorite pawns - the president of the Serbian entity Republika Srpska /RS/ Bosnia Milorad Dodik. Americans and other hateful westerners want to "eliminate" the RS and once again "satanize" the Serbian people, we must act immediately and vigorously, redirect the problem to someone else's backyard, kill two problems with one bullet.
Universal master of destruction, nationalism and insults
"Hmm... Let's see who will do it best...", Vucic thinks frantically and asks himself, and he already knows the answer: "Vulin, get ready, on Monday you are going to Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Prebilovci. Your ancestors are from Bosnia, as well as mine, you know how things work there," the president issued a short order to the deputy prime minister of Serbia. This is a function that he personally, deliberately and against all reasonable and human considerations put on Vulin. Vucic realized what a "pearl" and versatile master of destruction he has.
Vulin did not wait to be ordered twice, he immediately called a helicopter (Prebilovtsi is far away, near Chaplin, in the southernmost part of BiH), and the services would take care of the other trifles. And then, with shock and disbelief, Vulin realized that he was being opposed by "a certain" Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Elmedin Konakovic, who, with the help of "a certain" Minister of Transport and Communications, Edin Forte, forbade him to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina. Well, Konakovic didn't ban him from entering because he doesn't have the tools and permission to do so, but he banned him from flying into the country (by helicopter). "They are not only cowards, but also scoundrels, they did not even dare to say that it is forbidden, but they unofficially stated - there is no one to sign, we are all at sea," Vulin burst out to the BiH representatives.
When the president orders, then the task must be carried out: if not by helicopter, then by car. Vulin got into his car a day later in the direction of Prebilovci to mark the 83rd anniversary of a Ustasha crime committed against the Serbian population in World War II. When he arrived, he "proudly" declared: "Republika Srpska is mine, I can enter whenever I want" (he is a bit "weak" with geography, this village is located in the entity Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and again turned to those who are at sea: "A little mischief, a little meanness... then they feel big, important, powerful... it is not good for a country to prove itself only with some prohibitions..."
15 days service in the army and oath at 47 years
But why did the BiH officials "throw" the deputy prime minister of the neighboring country from the helicopter? What has he done so bad that he has to get in a car and drive over 450 kilometers one way in this heat? Here is an abbreviated version of the long list: Vulin denies the genocide committed in Srebrenica; offends victims and their families; undermines the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina; announces new wars and the creation of a "Serbian World"; spreads the "Greater Serbian" idea, which implies redrawing the borders; defends those who glorify war crimes and criminals; is part of the US "blacklist"; the main engine is Russia's malign influence in the region.
Humanists and cosmopolitans like this were denied a helicopter flight, and Serbia and all Serbs were humiliated - an avalanche of condemnations started from Belgrade and RS. Statements of disappointment and mistrust poured in, and as usual, the most "original" were the politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian member of the presidency Zelka Cvijanovic accused (her minister) Konakovic of being a "disturbing factor... disrupting good neighborly relations...". A delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, Radovan Kovacevic, said that "Konakovic is not behaving in accordance with the constitution."
Interestingly, the helicopter "ban" against Vulin caused more attention and reactions in the RS than in Serbia, including a "lukewarm" reaction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade. Perhaps also because the multiple minister (defence; interior; employment, veterans and social affairs; without portfolio) and high-ranking official (director of the Security and Information Agency and the Kosovo Office) bought an apartment in Belgrade by borrowing €205,000 from his wife's aunt from Canada. When he did it, how he took the money, how many times he went to Canada - he neither explained, nor will he explain, because after all he is Vucic's "trusted person". Or because we are talking about a patriot who stopped his military service (for only 15 days) and took the oath at the age of 47. When he had to (until the age of 30), he could not go to the army because he had "vision problems", but then he "saw" and in 2019 he paid off his debt to the state.
There will be more attacks on good neighborly relations from Belgrade
Authorities in Zagreb declared Vulin persona non grata in April 2018 when he said his arrival in Croatia to commemorate the victims of Jasenovac "can only be decided by the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army, Aleksandar Vucic, and not by Croatian ministers ". He has not been able to go to Kosovo for 12 years; while he was director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, he boasted about how he had entered Kosovo illegally, wearing a black uniform, how he had crawled across the border line. He is not welcome in Slovenia either; in Montenegro, only nationalists, pro-Serbian "democrats" like Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević enjoy it; he is also not a welcome guest in North Macedonia. He has only Bosnia and Herzegovina left, thanks to the "Serb brothers", but let him "forget" about the helicopter.
Vulin's crossed helicopter blades are just a continuation of the Serbian regime's subversive and, to put it mildly, incorrect moves towards the neighboring country. We will watch more of the same, while the power in Belgrade belongs to the two Alexandrovites - Vucic and Vulin. | BGNES
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Analysis by Fuad Kovacevich, Al Jazeera Balkans
