U.S. slaps new sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader, calling him a threat to Balkan 'territorial integrity'
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Wednesday that it was imposing additional sanctions against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and a media company he allegedly controls, Reuters reports.
A Treasury Department statement accused Dodik of "corrupt activities and continued threats to the stability and territorial integrity" of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's three-person inter-ethnic presidency, supported the vote. He favors removing the framework established by the 1995 Dayton Agreement, which ended the war that devastated the country following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. "Bosnia is an experiment ... I don't believe it can survive because it does not have an internal capacity to survive," Dodik said at the time.
Under the Dayton framework, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains one nation but is divided into two enclaves: the ethnically Serbian Republika Srpska and the ethnically Croat and Bosniak Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most governmental functions devolve to the semi-autonomous governments of these entities. The nation's presidency is constitutionally required to be made up of a Serbian, a Croat, and a Bosniak.
Even before the December vote, Dodik's rhetoric was causing concern among international observers.
"The [Bosnia and Herzegovina] population is truly afraid of a new war, noticing the same worrying signs as in the 1990s," a pair of left-leaning Dutch members of European Parliament wrote in a November op-ed.
The MEPs concluded that unless Dodik and his followers faced "the realistic threat of targeted sanctions or another form of serious international pushback, they will continue to escalate this crisis, which could eventually result in secession, thereby risking a violent conflict."
Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, wrote on Twitter that the new U.S. sanctions were a "sign of growing U.S. assertiveness in Bosnia and pushback against [Russia's] influence in the Balkans."
Ramani told The Week that Dodik and Russian President Vladimir Putin have "a cordial personal relationship" and that Russia "has expressed concern about discrimination against Serbs within Bosnia and Herzegovina."
-
‘The West needs people’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Filing statuses: What they are and how to choose one for your taxesThe Explainer Your status will determine how much you pay, plus the tax credits and deductions you can claim
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
