{"id":47315,"date":"2022-01-05T17:22:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T17:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47315"},"modified":"2022-01-05T17:22:54","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T17:22:54","slug":"us-imposes-sanctions-on-bosnian-serb-leader-dodik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47315","title":{"rendered":"US imposes sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Dodik"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The United States accuses Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik of corruption and threatening the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The United States has imposed sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik,\u00a0who aims<\/a> to take the Serb Republic out of Bosnia\u2019s armed forces, accusing him of corruption and threatening the stability and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> on Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury said the sanctions against Dodik come as part of an effort by the administration of President Joe Biden to hold accountable individuals who \u201cundermine the stability of the Western Balkans region through corruption and threats to long-standing peace agreements\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Treasury also slapped\u00a0sanctions on media outlet Alternativna Televizija d.o.o. Banja Luka, accusing Dodik of acquiring it to further his own agenda and exerting personal control over it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilorad Dodik\u2019s destabilizing corrupt activities and attempts to dismantle the Dayton Peace Accords, motivated by his own self-interest, threaten the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region,\u201d Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E Nelson said in the statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States will not hesitate to act against those who pursue corruption, destabilization, and division at the expense of their own people, as well as against those who enable and facilitate this behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

The designations are the first use of an executive order issued in June allowing the US to target those threatening peace or stability in the Western Balkans. They will block any assets Dodik may have under US jurisdiction and criminalise transactions with him under US law.<\/p>\n

Political crisis<\/h2>\n

The US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995 ended three and a half years of war in Bosnia. The conflict left approximately 100,000 people dead and forced two million others from their homes.<\/p>\n

The agreement also established Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state composed of two entities: a Bosniak-Croat-dominated federation and a Serb-run Republika Srpska.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in recent months, Bosnia has faced its worst political crisis<\/a> since the 1990s, after Bosnian Serbs blocked<\/a> the work of the central government and Dodik threatened to withdraw from state institutions, including the army, the judiciary and the tax system.<\/p>\n