The Bosnian Serb politician Milorad Dodik.
(dpa) The American government has imposed sanctions on the Bosnian-Serbian top politician Milorad Dodik for alleged corruption and his efforts to destabilize Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday that this also applies to the television station Alternativna Televizija, which he controls. 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.
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 sanctions.
Dodik had previously said Wednesday that he was not concerned about the sanctions. These only testified to the “impotence” of the USA. These behaved arrogantly, what they do is pointless, said Dodik the regional TV station N1 in Banja Luka.