Aleksandar Vulin
Aleksandar Vulin is a Serbian politician and lawyer. He has served as the Minister of Defence of Serbia from 29 June 2017.
He previously served as the Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of Serbia from April 2014 to June 2017. He also served as director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija from July 2012 to September 2013, and Minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia in charge of Kosovo and Metohija from September 2013 to April 2014.Early years
He was born in Lozovik, to a Bosnian Serb father and a Romani mother. He finished primary school in Novi Sad, Grammar's School in Sremski Karlovci and later graduated from the University of Kragujevac Faculty of Law. He stated that ever since his childhood "he has always been a communist". Vulin began his political career during the high school days in Novi Sad by supporting the Anti-bureaucratic revolution led by Slobodan Milošević between 1986 and 1989.Political career
During the collapse of the communist Yugoslavia in 1990, Vulin joined the League of Communists – Movement for Yugoslavia, the so-called "army party" led by general Stevan Mirković. Vulin became a general secretary. In 1994, he was one of the founders of the Yugoslav Left, a party led by Mirjana Marković, the wife of Slobodan Milošević. In the new party, Vulin became a leader of the Revolutionary Youth, the party's youth organisation. He left the Yugoslav Left when it joined together with the Milošević's Socialist Party of Serbia to the coalition with the Vojislav Šešelj's Serbian Radical Party in 1998.
Later he founded the Democratic Left, and then the Movement of Socialists in August 2008.
In 2012, following the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election after which Serbian Progressive Party-led coalition took power, which consisted of Vulin's Movement of Socialists, Vulin was named the director of newly established Office for Kosovo and Metohija. He stayed on the position until 2 September 2013 when he became the Minister without portfolio in charge of Kosovo and Metohija.
Following the 2014 Serbian parliamentary election, leader of the Serbian Progressive Party Aleksandar Vučić formed the government on 27 April 2014 with Vulin being named the Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy. He kept the office after the 2016 Serbian parliamentary election, in the second cabinet of Aleksandar Vučić.
During his time in the office as Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, he was known for his often and fierce criticism directed towards Croatia, as well as occasional insulting of Croatian politicians and officials.
In June 2017, Aleksandar Vučić gave mandate to Ana Brnabić to form the governmental cabinet. On 29 June 2017, the cabinet of Ana Brnabić was formed, with Vulin swapping minister positions with Zoran Đorđević to become the Minister of Defence.
On April 21, 2018 Vulin was proclaimed persona non grata in Republic of Croatia after saying: "only the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army – Aleksandar Vučić – can decide about me entering in Croatia, not Croatian ministers."
