Today, the United States is designating four officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) who facilitated the passage of a law in the Republika Srpska National Assembly (RSNA) that undermines the BiH Constitution, an annex of the Dayton Accords.
Promoted by the president of the Republika Srpska entity in BiH, Milorad Dodik, a U.S.-designated person, this new legislation is a brazen attempt to undermine state institutions. The law threatens the stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of BiH as well as the country’s prospects for integration into Euro-Atlantic and European institutions, at the expense of the people of BiH.
High Representative Schmidt - the ultimate authority on the interpretation of the Dayton Accords - publicly condemned the law as an unacceptable offense to the rule of law and an assault on the constitutional order of BiH. Despite the High Representative’s action to annul the law, Dodik signed the law into effect on July 7, 2023.
Today’s designations build on prior U.S. sanctions and visa restrictions we have imposed to promote accountability, peace, stability, and functional democratic governance in the Western Balkans region. We will continue to support the people of BiH in their efforts to strengthen the rule of law and ensure that peace and prosperity prevail.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Speaker and President of the RSNA Nenad Stevandic; RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic; Member of the BiH Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic; and RS Minister of Justice Milos Bukejlovic pursuant to Executive Order 14033 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in, a violation of, or an act that has obstructed or threatened the implementation of, any regional security, peace, cooperation, or mutual recognition agreement or framework or accountability mechanism related to the Western Balkans, including the Dayton Accords. For more information on today’s actions, see Treasury’s press release.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs