The United States on Monday (July 31) imposed sanctions on four senior Bosnian Serb officials, including the Serb member of the country’s presidency, for undermining a U.S.-sponsored peace deal that ended the war in this Balkan country in the 1990s.
Member of the Bosnian Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic, together with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia, facilitated the adoption of a law that undermines the Bosnian constitution, said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller in a statement.
The constitution is part of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, in which 100,000 people were killed, dividing the country into two autonomous regions, the Serbian Republic and the Bosnian Federation -Croatian, linked by a weak central government.
In late June, Republic of Serbia lawmakers voted to suspend decisions by Bosnia’s Constitutional Court, a vote initiated by the region’s pro-Russian separatist president, Milorad Dodik, already under U.S. and British sanctions.
The US Treasury Department named Cvijanovic, Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic, Justice Minister Milos Bukejlovic and Parliament Speaker Nenad Stevandic for obstructing and threatening the implementation of the Dayton Accords by allowing the law to be passed .
“This action threatens the stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the hard-won peace supported by the Dayton Peace Accord,” said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Security financial intelligence, Brian E. Nelson.
“This behavior further threatens the country’s future trajectory and its successful integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions,” Nelson added.
Cvijanovic was subject to British sanctions last year along with Dodik for what were described as attempts to undermine the legitimacy and functioning of the Bosnian state.
Reacting to the sanctions, Stevandic said he saw them as a “decoration of consistency, firmness and non-indulgence in the face of blackmail and threats from those considered powerful.”
A spokesperson for Dodik’s ruling SNSD party said the US decision was “shameless and hypocritical”. “No sanctions will stop us from doing our job,” Radovan Kovacevic said.
These designations build on previous U.S. sanctions and visa restrictions intended to promote accountability for individuals who undermine democratic processes or institutions, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Dodik and his allies have long favored the Bosnia region’s secession and unification with neighboring Serbia. They have intensified their activities undermining state institutions in recent months, including suspending the decisions of an international peace envoy.