Bosnia and Herzegovina’s President Željka Cvijanović has criticised the US Ministry of Finance for imposing sanctions on Republika Srpska’s Minister of Energy and Mining, Petar Đokić, for signing a contract with Croatia in 2017 that is contrary to the Dayton Agreement. Cvijanović argues that these sanctions have become an integral part of the US presence in the region and that people have not gotten used to injustice.
Cvijanović railed: “In 2017, you sign a contract, and in 2023 you are sanctioned because something is contrary to the Dayton Agreement… It has become funny to listen to what has become contrary to the Dayton Agreement.”
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated eight individuals and six entities under Western Balkans-related Executive Order (E.O.) 14033 and Russia-related E.O. 14024. The U.S. Department of State has also designated two individuals and 12 entities under E.O. 14024.
Savo Cvijetinovic, a member of the executive board of Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik’s political party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), in the RS entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), is being designated for operating in the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy. Djokic, the RS Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mining, is being designated for violating or obstructing the implementation of any regional security, peace, cooperation, or mutual recognition agreement or framework related to the Western Balkans.
Dusko Perovic, the long-serving head of the RS representational office in Moscow, Russia, has been instrumental in arranging interactions between RS President Milorad Dodik and his party SNSD and Russian officials. Perovic has routinely lobbied for meetings between Dodik and Russian President Vladimir Putin and served as the go-between for the Dodik-led RS government and a prominent Russian billionaire. Perovic is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of Milorad Dodik, a person whose property and interests are blocked under E.O. 14033.
The U.S. has previously designated Dodik on January 5, 2022, for being responsible for or complicit in a violation of the Dayton Peace Agreement and corruption related to the Western Balkans.