US lifts sanctions on separatist Bosnian Serb leader Dodik and his family

The United States lifted sanctions on Wednesday, withdrawing financial penalties imposed against separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his family. biden Administration in 2022.

Dodik is staunchly pro-Russian and has called for the Serb-ruled half of Bosnia to secede and join. serbia,

Until recently he was the President of the Bosnian Serb Republic in Bosnia, sharing the tripartite presidency with a Bosniak and a Croat. Dodik agreed to step down this month after being banned from politics by a Bosnian court because of his separatist actions.

Dodik’s separatist threats have stoked fear in the fragile Balkan country, where war broke out in 1992-95 when Bosnian Serbs rebelled against independence from the former Yugoslavia and moved to create a ministry aimed at unifying it with Serbia. About 100,000 people were killed and millions were displaced.

In imposing sanctions on Dodik, the former US administration accused him of corruption and threatening to destabilize the region and undermine the US-brokered peace deal that ended the war.

The notification lifting the ban was published on the website of treasury departmentOffice of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. officers of white House And the Treasury and State departments did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on why the sanctions were lifted.

Dodik thanked the President on donald trump And his colleagues were thanked for “correcting a serious injustice” by the previous administration.

“The decision to lift sanctions is not only a legal reform, but also a moral endorsement of the truth about Republika Srpska and all those who have served it with honor,” Dodik said, referring to the Serb-run entity in Bosnia. “Once again it has become clear that the allegations against us were nothing more than lies and propaganda.”

The list of people and firms subject to lifted sanctions also includes a media outlet, Alternative TV, which the US has accused of being closely linked to Dodik’s family.

Dodik’s policies have been widely seen as undermining the tense peace in Bosnia between the country’s three ethnic groups – Bosniaks, who are predominantly Muslim, Serbs and Croats.

The Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war created two regions in Bosnia, Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation, which were given broad autonomy but kept some joint institutions, including the military and judiciary.

Dodik has repeatedly clashed with international peace envoy Christian Schmidt and has declared his decisions illegal in Republika Srpska.

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Associated Press reporter Amer Kohadzic in Novi Sad, Serbia, contributed to this report.