Serbian Minister’s Father Joined Arms Delegation on Italian Visit

While Serbian officials continue to downplay the role of the Interior Minister's father in the arms trade, documents obtained by BIRN reveal his high-level activities in this field.

They show that Branko Stefanovic, father of Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, traveled in May to the "Bereta" arms factory in Italy as part of a Serbian Interior Ministry delegation, for example.

Stefanovic joined the trip as a representative of the private company GIM, which was part of the delegation. The documents show that Stefanovic went to Italy designated as a special advisor.

His close connection to the arms trading company came to light when BIRN in November 2018 revealed that he had mediated in arms deals between Krusik, Serbia's state arms manufacturer, and a private Saudi Arabian company, Rinad Aljazira - and had earlier visited Krusik in May 2017 as one of three representatives of GIM.

A report published later by the specialist portal Arms Watch, based on leaked documents, claimed that some of the weapons that GIM obtained ended up in the hands of ISIS fighters in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is directly involved in the civil war in Yemen.

Although Serbian officials have since downplayed or denied Stefanovic's role in GIM, a document that BIRN published at the beginning of December showed that he traveled last year to Saudi Arabia as part of a GIM delegation.

The Interior Ministry delegation to Italy was led by Ivan Ristic, then Assistant Director of Police. Before this, Ristic worked as chef-de-cabinet for the Interior Minister.

The Bereta factory confirmed to BIRN that its directors held meetings with Stefanovic and other representatives of GIM and the Interior Ministry.

"We confirm that we received representatives from GIM and...