That Milorad Dodik has neither stopped dreaming nor acting on the realization of an independent Republika Srpska (RS) was confirmed by the latest sanctions from the United States (U.S.) government.
Thirteen individuals have been placed on the U.S. blacklist for aiding in the enrichment of Dodik’s family, for failing to implement Constitutional Court decisions regarding January 9th, and for the plan to secede RS, which was developed at Dodik’s request by, among others, the Minister of Internal Affairs of RS and the Secretary-General of the RS Government.
“In 2024, Dodik tasked several officials of the SNSD to convene a working group to create a plan for RS’s secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Both Sinisa Karan and Dalibor Panic were part of this secessionist working group, which developed Dodik’s secession plan,” states the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Yesterday, the SNSD responded by saying that the U.S. had targeted the system – constitutional, political, economic, and media – and that these are, as they put it, the last desperate convulsions of the Biden administration.
When asked how they would respond to the sanctions, SNSD spokesperson Radovan Kovacevic did not reiterate Dodik’s earlier statement that banks would remain open to sanctioned individuals regardless.
On the other hand, the new sanctions confirmed what Our party has been increasingly vocal about in recent days – SNSD is blocking the state, and new partners must be found. Sabina Cudic officially submitted an initiative to dismiss the leadership of this party from the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH) due to the blockades.
The SNSD responded that initiatives aimed at toppling the largest party of the Serbian people are not good. The HDZ has not commented on the initiative, nor on the U.S. sanctions. Dragan Covic still hopes that European laws can be adopted by the third month.
Mathematically, the leadership of both houses of the state parliament can be changed without the SNSD and HDZ, but dismissals can also be blocked due to a lack of quorum.
Regarding the sanctions, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Michael Murphy said in an interview that sanctions would continue as a response to anti-Dayton actions and that the state prosecutor should act aggressively and quickly, opening investigations against individuals who have violated the constitution or refused to implement the decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court. He noted that this is not only about RS Day but also about state property and other issues.
