April 12 (SeeNews) - The UK government said it has imposed sanctions against Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia's collective presidency, and Zeljka Cvijanovic, president of the Serb Republic entity, for involvement in destabilising activities.
Dodik and Cvijanovic have been sanctioned for using their positions of authority to push for secession of the Serb Republic, which is in direct contravention of the country’s constitution, the UK government said in a press release on Monday.
"These two politicians are deliberately undermining the hard won peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Encouraged by Putin, their reckless behaviour threatens stability and security across the Western Balkans," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss noted.
The sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes.
Dodik has driven action to withdraw the Serb Republic from key state institutions using divisive, dangerous and nationalist rhetoric, while Cvijanovic used her office to table legislation in the entity seeking to transfer state competencies to the entity level and has publicly glorified war criminals and denied the genocide at Srebrenica, according to the statement.
"Dodik and Cvijanovic’s actions and rhetoric threaten to undo 26 years of hard-won peace and stability, and undermine the General Framework Agreement for Peace (Dayton Peace Agreement), which brought hostilities to an end in 1995," the UK government said.
Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two constituent entities - the Serb Republic (RS) and the Federation (FBiH), under the Dayton peace agreement after a war which lasted from 1992 to 1995. The Federation and the Serb Republic have their own governments and parliaments and are linked by a weak central government.
In December 2021, the parliament of the Serb Republic voted in favour of transferring control of the armed and security forces, the judiciary and the indirect taxation system from state to entity level in what was seen as a move towards the entity's secession from Bosnia. The lawmakers adopted a declaration which instructs the Serb Republic's institutions to draft a new set of laws over the next six months that would regulate these areas at entity level.
In January 2022, the U.S. Department of State said it has imposed sanctions against Dodik for "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.”