Milorad Dodik appointed Aleksandar Vulin to the Senate of the Republic of Srpska. That body practically does nothing, so the message is exclusively political, says Srđan Puhalo for "Vreme". Or, as Vulin would say, they are "hurt" by what the West says
Aleksandar Vulin was not out of office for long, as it was announced on Wednesday that the President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik appointed him as a senator.
The RS Senate, a body that is a mystery to most citizens, has up to 55 members and its role is to advise the institutions. The members are exclusively appointed by the President of the RS from among "prominent figures from public, scientific and cultural life".
It was not said in which of these categories the former Serbian minister of police, army and head of the BIA falls, but Vulin himself thanked Dodik for the appointment.
"Being a senator of the free Republika Srpska, the land of my ancestors, is a great honor, an obligation and a sign that all Serbs are actually one and that the Serbian world is here, that it is alive, that it is being created, that it is developing, regardless of the force that threatens it." to each of us who dedicated our lives to serving the Serbian world," Vulin told the Srna agency.
One "message" to the West
Thus, Vulin, less than two months after resigning as head of the BIA, came to a new position, this time in Banja Luka. He resigned when he was put on the American blacklist for alleged involvement in the international drug and arms trade and facilitating "malign Russian influence".
Dodik's appointment of Vulin is "a poke in the eye, first of all to the West," Banja Luka social psychologist and blogger Srđan Puhalo told Vreme.
"In January, Dodik honored Putin. That is a much bigger slap in the face to the West than this now. This with Vulin is a message of 'we don't care what the West thinks', but I'm not sure that Dodik will suffer any damage because of it," adds Puhalo.
Vulin himself said even more explicitly that he doesn't care what the West thinks. "Serbia is not part of the EU and, frankly, it hurts me what they think about us," he told Russia's RT International.
"Wulin realistically does not meet any of the criteria for the Senate," continues Puhalo. "That's why this is a political message. "Dodik and Vulin have been close since Vulin headed the ministries of force, he used to come to the Republika Srpska, they went to Manjaca to sing, that's where the Vulins are from," our interlocutor recalls.
Can we do it without Vučić?
In connection with the leader of the Socialist Movement, the Serbian public often asked the question of how loyal a servant he is to Aleksandar Vučić, and how many situations exist in which he is an unguided missile that might harm Vučić.
Puhalo thinks that Vulin's role is to be a "spokesman" for what Serbia does not want to say clearly and loudly. If Vučić had something special against Vulin's engagement in Banja Luka, then Vulin would not have been engaged.
"I don't think it matters to Vučić right now." It is important to him that he formally removed him from his position in Belgrade. Now Vulin can do whatever he wants, as long as he can't do much harm to Vučić," says Puhalo.
Moreover, he says, Vučić can say "here I am normal, you see what kind of fools we have in Bosnia - I am the voice of reason".
What does that Senate do, if it does?
Senators are appointed for a seven-year term and may serve one more consecutive term. The President of the RS automatically becomes a member of the Senate, and remains so even after he ceases to be the President.
"Therefore, the president has an advisory body at his will. "I don't remember anyone being accepted who was a big critic of the president who nominated him," explains Puhalo.
Only one controversy was recorded, when the former president of the RS, Dragan Čavić, a member of the Senate by force of law, criticized Dodik, who expelled him from the Senate in 2011. To date, the two have become coalition partners.
Little is known about how often the Senate meets, only that they are paid a fee of half the average salary in the RS per session, which is now slightly more than three hundred euros. Plus travel expenses.
It also happens that the Senate meets once a year, before the controversial RS Day, which is celebrated on January 9. By law, senators advise the institutions on several enumerated issues and "other important issues of importance for the RS and its peoples and citizens", so theoretically on everything.
"They may be meeting, but no one knows what they are doing, what their decisions and conclusions are, or what their influence is on Dodik," summarizes Puhalo. "There are probably individuals whose opinions he holds dear, but I'm not sure he takes much notice of the Senate's proposals."
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