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The US Treasury Department has announced the expansion of sanctions for corruption offenses, which include the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik.
As stated in the announcement, sanctions have been imposed on Television ‘Alternativa’ from Banja Luka, which is related to Dodik’s family.
The Treasury Department said the sanctions express the commitment of the administration of US President Joe Biden to promote accountability “for those who, among other things, undermine the stability of the Western Balkans region through corruption and threats to long-term peace agreements.”
“Dodik has undermined the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling for the acquisition of state competencies and initiating the establishment of parallel institutions in the entity of Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, Dodik has used his official position in Bosnia to gain wealth for himself through bribery and other forms of corruption. His divisive ento-nationalist rhetoric reflects on his efforts to advance these political goals and to divert attention from his corrupt activities. “These actions threaten the stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and undermine the Dayton Peace Accords, and thus jeopardize the wider regional stability,” said the US Treasury Department.
According to the notice, sanctions mean that all properties, property interests of individuals and entities involved in sanctions, that they have in the US or are owned or controlled by US citizens, are blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. , this office within the US Treasury Department.
Sanctioned persons and entities are also barred from all transactions with US persons.
Earlier, Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic announced sanctions against Dodik.
She said that there is a harmonized position of the United States of America and the European Union and that this will not be the end, but only the beginning of the imposition of sanctions.
Otherwise, in November last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States, which mediated in reaching the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, could impose sanctions on those who try to unilaterally withdraw from state institutions or destabilize the agreement.
Dodik, who is also president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, answered a journalist’s question about possible sanctions warned by Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic.
“These are their sanctions, they are not ours. “I do not intend to apply for a visa to America, even if the sanctions are lifted tomorrow,” said Dodik.
Dodik said he could not imagine a country where, he says, ministers like Bisera Turkovic welcome sanctions on their citizens.
The work of state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been blocked since July last year, when representatives of the Republika Srpska entity refused to participate in any decision-making.
The Republika Srpska parliament has already taken some initiatives that could lead to secession from Bosnia.
This came in response to the fact that the former High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Valentin Inzko, initiated amendments to the Criminal Code banning the denial of genocide and the glorification of war criminals.
After that, the United States and the European Union demanded the unblocking of the work of institutions in this state.
Republika Srpska, which is one of the two entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, was asked to abandon the establishment of a drug agency and further activities to unilaterally take over the state’s competencies.
All of this has caused the biggest political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995, so some international officials have talked about the possibility of imposing sanctions.
However, some European politicians, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, have opposed the possibility of sanctions against some Republika Srpska officials, including Bosnia and Herzegovina presidency member Milorad Dodik.
On December 10 last year, the Assembly of Republika Srpska approved the conclusions that provide for the “return of competencies” from the state level to the entity, as well as the Declaration on Constitutional Principles of Republika Srpska, which instructs the institutions of this mechanism to draft a constitution that will made Banja Luka the capital of the entity, while Palle, which is not far from the capital, Sarajevo, to be the historic capital.
The statement added that “all laws passed by the High Representative are unconstitutional.”
Earlier, on October 20 last year, the same body adopted the Law on Drugs and Medical Devices, which provides for the establishment of a drug agency, which operates at the state level since 2009.
Days ago, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock demanded sanctions against the Bosnian Serb leader.
She said the European Union should sanction Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for his efforts to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Baerbock said that the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was “worrying” and that Dodik’s attempts for Republika Srpska to secede from Bosnia were “unacceptable”.
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