The Bosnian Serb leadership has come under U.S. sanctions
The United States has imposed sanctions against almost the entire top leadership of Republika Srpska (RS), part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Following President Milorad Dodik, the US blacklisted Zeljka Cvijanovic, the RS representative in the Presidency of Bosnia, which serves as the collective president, as well as the prime minister, parliament speaker and justice minister. They are all accused of “undermining the country’s state structure”. Regional experts believe that the US sanctions not only seek to put an end to Milorad Dodik as a politician, but also send a signal to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is expected to clearly distance himself from the RS leadership. Gennady Sysoyev, Kommersant’s correspondent in the Balkans, has the details.
The US Treasury Department announced the imposition of sanctions against the top leaders of Republika Srpska at the beginning of the week. According to the US assessment, the blacklisted leaders “pose a threat to the Dayton Peace Agreement (which ended the Bosnian War in 1995 and laid the foundation for the state structure of B&H. – “Kommersant”), the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina”. “These leaders are directly responsible for the adoption by the Republika Srpska parliament of the law on the non-application of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH on the territory of RS, which threatens the implementation of the Dayton Accords,” the US Treasury Department said in its decision.
The Assembly (parliament) of RS passed decrees this summer on disobeying the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and not implementing the orders of the high representative of the international community, Christian Schmidt.
Although Kristian Schmidt cancelled the adopted decrees on the basis of his authority, the Republika Srpska authorities continued to implement them. What is unacceptable to them is, above all, the blocking by the central organs of BiH and the High Representative of the Republika Srpska’s plans to transfer into its ownership all immovable property located on its territory. By not recognising the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the High Representative of the international community, the RS authorities are effectively outlawing them, which threatens either the paralysis of central authority in Bosnia or the collapse of the country altogether.
This appears to have been the main motive for the United States to place the top leadership of Republika Srpska on the sanctions list. Current RS President Milorad Dodik, who signed the decrees adopted by the parliament in early July, was included in the US blacklist earlier.
The reaction of the RS leaders who found themselves under US sanctions was expressed by Parliament Speaker Nenad Stevandic. He said that “being on the US blacklist is a reward for consistency, steadfastness and firmness in the face of blackmail and threats”.
RS leader Milorad Dodik reacted in the same spirit. “It was not the United States that chose Republika Srpska’s leaders, and it is not for them to replace them,” he said, adding that “sanctions demonstrate the weakness of the global superpower that is America”.
However, regional experts are convinced that American sanctions should not be underestimated. “The US has considered that Milorad Dodik has crossed the line, so as a politician he no longer exists for them. No matter what he says, they simply won’t listen to him. Neither him nor his followers,” says Croatian political scientist Davor Genero.
According to the expert, the American sanctions against the RS leadership are also a signal to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who is expected to clearly distance himself from the policy of the Republika Srpska leadership.
“If Vucic does not take the signal, he will also be cancelled,” Davor Genero believes.
For the Serbian president, the “American signal” does not seem to have come as a surprise. Back in early July, Aleksandar Vucic made it clear that he expects the West’s pressure on the RS leadership to intensify. Then in an interview with Prva TV channel he said: “I’m afraid that the decision to hit extremely hard (on Republika Srpska – “Kommersant”) has been made”.
At about the same time, the US imposed sanctions against Aleksandar Vulin, head of Serbia’s main intelligence service, accusing him of “corrupt and destabilising actions that contributed to Russia’s malicious activity in the Balkans” (see Kommersant of 13 July). Kommersant’s diplomatic sources in the region regarded the decision as “a clear signal to Vucic about the need to get rid of pro-Russian personnel.”
At a time when the Serbian president himself is under strong pressure from the West, the Republika Srpska leadership can only count on the support of the Russian Federation. After all, Russia actually supported the decision of the RS parliament on non-implementation of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of B&H. And the Russian Embassy in Sarajevo announced that this decision was a logical result of misconduct of the court itself, not excluding external influence on the judges.
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