Opposition demands removal of police chief Dragan Vasiljevic

Pro-European opposition parties have called for the removal of Dragan Vasiljevic from his post as director of the Serbian police. The cited reason is a failure to supervise the Belgrade Police Directorate following the arrest of its former chief, Veselin Milic, in the Senjak case.

The request was sent both to the Government of Serbia and to National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabic, signed by seven opposition parties including the People’s Movement of Serbia, the Freedom and Justice Party, the Democratic Party, the Green-Left Front, the Movement of Free Citizens, Serbia Centre and Nova.

What the petitioners argue

The People’s Movement of Serbia, which formally filed the request first, argues that police director Dragan Vasiljevic bears direct professional responsibility for the selection and oversight of senior police officials. By their reasoning, the dismissal of the former Belgrade chief should have come from internal controls, not from a prosecutorial decision.

Zdravko Ponos, the party’s president, called Vasiljevic’s removal the first step towards a genuine police clean-up that Vucic had previously announced as a law dismissing up to 2,000 officers. The Freedom and Justice Party echoed the view, adding that Vasiljevic is a political appointee who cannot guarantee internal reforms.

Three specific grounds

The joint opposition statement lists three concrete reasons:

• failure to supervise the work of the Belgrade Police Directorate
• withdrawal from internal controls after public doubts about its operations
• a political profile that prevents independent accountability

The director of police has a legal obligation to launch internal controls in response to every publicly raised doubt about the work of individual units, and failure to meet that obligation in itself constitutes grounds for removal from office, the joint opposition assessment reads.

Government response

The Interior Ministry (MUP) rejected the demand as a pre-election manoeuvre. Ivica Dacic, the Interior Minister, has previously said that the police director acts in line with the law and that every internal investigation follows standard procedure.

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), whose lists back the Macut government, said the opposition’s demand is politically motivated. By their assessment, both demands, the removal of Vasiljevic and the resignation of Dacic, aim to shift the debate from electoral law to institutional questions that can be handled in routine procedure.

What parliamentary procedure says

The police director is not appointed or removed by the National Assembly. He is nominated by the Interior Minister and appointed by the Government. A parliamentary demand therefore does not automatically lead to dismissal, but it can trigger political debate and media pressure.

Brnabic said the request will be reviewed under standard procedure, but that it will not interrupt the debate on electoral laws. By her assessment, any dismissal of an official must be documented before it reaches the Assembly.

Political backdrop before the elections

The demand for Vasiljevic’s removal comes alongside a call for Dacic to step down and for a session of the Defence Committee on the state of the police forces. Sources close to the ruling majority say the topic will not formally enter the parliamentary agenda before autumn elections are called.

Boban Stojanovic, a political scientist, said the Senjak case is already shifting the focus of the pre-election campaign towards rule of law and the systemic conduct of police services.

Will the government accept any form of dismissal within the police before parliamentary elections are called?