The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against Republika Srpska’s nationalist leader, Milorad Dodik, saying that he is actively obstructing efforts to implement the 1995 Dayton accords that ended the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The sanctions imposed on January 17 by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) allow U.S. authorities to block access by Dodik to any of his property or assets under U.S. jurisdiction.
Dodik, the president of Bosnia's autonomous Serb entity, has been criticized by Western powers for pushing forward with so-called Republika Srpska Statehood celebrations on January 9.
The celebrations were staged in Banja Luka in violation of a court order from Bosnia-Herzegovina’s capital, Sarajevo, and warnings from the West that the activities threaten the country’s unity and constitutional order.
John Smith, the acting director of OFAC, said that "by obstructing the Dayton accords, Milorad Dodik poses a significant threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina."