This also applies to the television station he controls, Alternativna Televizija, announced the US Treasury Department on Wednesday. Dodik is the dominant politician in the Serbian part of Bosnia, the Republika Srpska (RS), as well as the Serbian member of the Bosnian state presidency. As a nationalist, he tries to split the RS off from Bosnia.
The US Treasury Department said Dodik had undermined the institutions of the Bosnian Federation and built parallel structures in the RS. In addition, Dodik used his position “to amass a personal fortune through bribery, kickbacks and other forms of corruption”. His separatist activities served to divert attention from his corruption. He was undermining the stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the ministry said.
In response to the sanctions, Dodik denied violating the constitutional order of Bosnia or having committed any corrupt acts. “If you think you can discipline me in this way, you are very wrong,” said Dodik of the Bosnian-Serbian news agency SRNA. “Now I really have a motive to fight for the rights that have been withheld from us for 26 years.”
As a result of the sanctions, any property Dodik may have in the US will be frozen. US citizens and companies are largely prohibited from doing business with him or the TV broadcaster or providing financial support to him. Even if the persons and companies concerned have no assets in the USA, such penalties make most international business more difficult for them because banks and companies do not want to risk violating US sanctions.