The United States has designated eight individuals who organised and executed the commemoration of Republika Srpska (RS) Day on January 8-10, 2024, supporting RS President Milorad Dodik’s secessionist agenda.
Seven of those sanctioned today also helped plan and organize the 2025 commemoration.
RS commemorations have been determined to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.
Directed and overseen by Dodik, they are “emblematic of Dodik’s longstanding efforts to undermine the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, a cornerstone for regional peace and security.”
These individuals’ actions threaten the territorial integrity, peace, and stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina by undermining the Dayton framework and its core institutions, including the BiH Constitutional Court and the authority of the High Representative.
The United States also sanctioned five individuals and one entity that form part of the Dodik family’s financial patronage network.
Dodik “has used his official position to accumulate personal wealth through companies linked to himself and his family at the expense of the Bosnian people.” A statement by the U.S. government added that Dodik and his family “often rely on a network of trusted associates to obfuscate their involvement and circumvent U.S. sanctions.”
The Dayton Peace Agreement and the Constitution of BiH are the democratic and multiethnic framework essential to peace and stability in the country.
As demonstrated by then-President Joe Biden’s January 8, 2025, E.O. expanding U.S. sanctions authorities in the Western Balkans, the U.S. government will continue to promote accountability for those who seek to erode the rule of law, threaten peace and stability and facilitate efforts to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
