Vučić Mladić arrest — Allegations have surfaced in Serbia that Aleksandar Vučić, while serving as deputy leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), provided crucial intelligence that led to the 2011 arrest of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladić. Srđan Milivojević, president of the Democratic Party (DS), stated that Miroslav – Miki Rakić, then chief of staff to the Serbian president and coordinator of all security services, personally told him that Vučić supplied details about Mladić’s supporters, logistics, and the financing of his escape.

According to Milivojević’s written statement to the Beta news agency, Rakić said the information from Vučić was decisive in locating and capturing Mladić. Milivojević further claimed that Vučić, who had previously been close to Rakić, used this relationship to help authorities find Mladić after leaving the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), allegedly to improve his image in Europe.

Conflicting Accounts from Officials

Miki Rakić (1975–2014) played a central role as security services coordinator and chief of staff to then-president Boris Tadić during the operation that led to Mladić’s arrest on May 26, 2011, in the village of Lazarevo near Zrenjanin. However, Bruno Vekarić of the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office told Beta that Vučić never provided his office with any information about Mladić’s whereabouts. Vekarić had previously stated at a 2015 public event that, unlike other leaders of the Serbian Radical Party, Vučić was cooperative and offered to assist the prosecution with information on Mladić’s hiding places.

The distinction between offering and actually providing information remains unclear. The report suggests that while Vučić may have initially offered help to the prosecution, he ultimately chose to share concrete intelligence only with Rakić, bypassing formal legal channels. These claims have not been independently verified and remain the subject of political debate in Serbia.