Dacic and Vasiljevic refuse to resign, opposition demands dismissals

Interior Minister Ivica Dacic on Sunday, May 24, rejected public calls for resignation following the arrest of Belgrade City Police Administration head Veselin Milic in the Senjak investigation. Speaking on Prva TV, Dacic said he was not at fault, that he did not personally appoint Milic, and that he would not leave the head of the ministry as long as his health allowed. Police Director Dragan Vasiljevic, who in a November 2020 order returned Milic to the head of Belgrade’s police, has not spoken publicly since the arrest.

Dacic answered a question on why he should resign by saying that Milic had been suspended by formal decision and that an order had been issued removing him until the criminal proceedings end. The minister in the same interview stressed that Milic “is not from his social circle” and that the conversation should be about guilt, not resignations. Citing his own health, Dacic added he holds state functions “as long as I can.”

What the opposition demands, and what the ruling coalition offers

Marinika Tepic, vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, said members of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit are becoming “personal-private security for mobsters.” The People’s Movement of Serbia demanded the immediate dismissal of Director Vasiljevic and Minister Dacic, an initiative also backed by Novo Lice Srbije, Serbia Centre, the Green-Left Front, the Movement of Free Citizens and Ekoloski Ustanak. Six opposition parties stand behind the demand for an urgent session of the parliamentary Defence and Internal Affairs Committee.

From the top of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, executive board president Darko Glisic said “blockaders will not defeat the government at elections; they will defeat the opposition sitting in the Assembly.” SNS deputy president Ana Brnabic on May 19 said the government had acted by procedure and that Minister Dacic has the support of President of the Republic Aleksandar Vucic. Prime Minister Djuro Macut has not commented.

Why is Vasiljevic not responding?

Police Director Dragan Vasiljevic, in the nine days since Milic’s arrest, has passed in front of cameras only once, leaving the Interior Ministry building on Bulevar Mihajla Pupina without answering reporters’ questions. Vasiljevic in November 2020 signed the order returning Milic to head Belgrade’s police after a two-year stint in the presidential office. According to Vreme, among opposition MPs a list of questions is already circulating about who formally proposed Milic’s return: the minister, the prime minister, the President of the Republic, or the police director himself.

For now, no formal answer on Dacic’s and Vasiljevic’s resignations has come from anyone in government. Minister Dacic on May 25 returned to his usual schedule, attending a National Security Council session. According to the official Presidency statement, the session discussed the current security situation in the country, without mention of the Senjak case. President Vucic expressed support for the minister and the police director.

Filip Svarm, Vreme journalist, in a column from May 22 raises the question of whether Milic, with access to dossiers on more than twenty organised crime operations across two mandates, could be “an uncomfortable witness.” If Belgrade’s Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office comes out with new qualifications of the offence, particularly for accomplices, the case will draw in names not yet mentioned.

According to the State Audit Institution, the annual report on Interior Ministry budget spending for 2025, which includes the item for compensation of officers on security details, will be published on June 15. The Party of Freedom and Justice has announced it will request a separate debate on items relating to leadership security, which returns to the question of the extent to which Milic’s security officers, now suspects in the Senjak case, used regular Interior Ministry budget funds and resources.

No urgent Defence Committee session has been called. Next date: June 12, when the prosecution’s decision on extending detention for the ten suspects is expected. Will Vasiljevic break his silence by then?