Russia's Putin awarded the Order of Friendship to the former Serbian top spy in recognition of his close ties between the intelligence agencies of the two countries, the former head of Serbia's intelligence agency announced Tuesday.
Aleksandr Ulin, who resigned from the Serbian Security and Information Service in November last year, received the State Order from Sergei Naryshkin, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, at the Moscow headquarters of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
"Naryshkin noted that this high award is a well-deserved recognition of the ongoing efforts to comprehensively develop Russian-Serbian relations and cooperation between the Russian-Serbian special services," the Socialist Movement party said in a statement. ”
Mr. Ullin, 51, founded the left-wing nationalist party in 2008.
Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on Putin for alleged corruption, involvement in drug smuggling, and helping Russia expand its influence in the Balkans.
The former intelligence chief said that he resigned from his senior post due to pressure from Washington and Brussels on Belgrade, accusing the West of "asking me ** in order not to impose sanctions on Serbia."
Serbia and Russia have historically had close ties, and Belgrade did not join international sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, although it condemned Russia's aggression at the United Nations.
Serbia is almost entirely dependent on Russian gas.
Moscow also supports Belgrade on the Kosovo issue, rejects Kosovo's independence, and helps prevent Kosovo from becoming a member of the United Nations.
Ulin is one of the few high-ranking European countries to visit Russia after Russia invaded its Slavic neighbor Ukraine in 2022.