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The US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on the Bosnian Serb leader and member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik, for destabilizing and corrupt activities in the country, while a television station was also fined.
Alternativna Televizija doo Banja Luka (ATV), a Banja Luka-based media outlet, according to the US is owned by a company closely linked to the Dodik family.
Dodik exercises personal control over the ATV, according to the US, which he uses to raise his public image and advance personal and political goals.
“Alternativna Televizija doo Banja Luka (ATV), a media outlet based in Banja Luka, RS, is privately owned by a company closely associated with the Dodik family. However, Dodik himself exercises personal control over ATV behind the scenes, such as seeking personal approval for media stories related to politically sensitive topics. Dodik bought the ATV to deliberately and explicitly advance his agenda, which includes his efforts to denigrate other political figures, to illuminate his public image, and to advance his personal and political goals.
Dodik has given ATV-related contracts directly to members of his family, which he has used as another avenue for corruption. He has poured money directly from public companies into ATVs for corrupt purposes. Dodik has significantly increased funding for ATV in recent years and has engaged in malicious social media influence campaigns through ATV to publish content that advances his political and personal goals. ATV is determined based on EO 14033 that it is owned or controlled by, or has acted or claimed to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Dodik ”, according to the US announcement.
Bosnian Serb leader and member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik
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.
In November last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States, which mediated in reaching the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords with Bosnia and Herzegovina, could impose sanctions on those seeking to withdraw. unilaterally by 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 before.
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.
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.
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.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was worrying and that Dodik’s efforts for Republika Srpska to secede from Bosnia were unacceptable.
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