The claim that the US sanctions of July 31 are anti-Serb because some of those sanctioned are Serb is “preposterous,” the US Embassy said in response to Milorad Dodik, the President of Bosnia's Serb-majority Republika Srpska entity, stressing that “Dodik and company can conjure up tall tales and conspiracy theories that he and his associates are victims of some imaginary anti-Serb policy.” Pročitaj više

“It is quite obvious to everyone why the United States sanctioned Zeljka Cvijanovic, Nenad Stevadic, Radovan Viskovic and Milos Bukejlovic on July 31. Mr. Dodik and company can conjure up tall tales and conspiracy theories that he and his associates are victims of some imaginary anti-Serb policy, but the truth is that the United States Government sanctioned these individuals because their actions threatened the stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not because of their ethnicity,” the embassy said.

The statement came hours after the press conference addressed by Dodik and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska adminsitrative centre in the north of Bosnia, where they spoke about the recent US sanctions against the entity representatives.

Dodik on this occasion accused the US of practicing “anti-Serb policy,” while Vucic said that Serbia would refer to those sanctions “as if they do not exist.”

Vucic, Dodik criticise US sanctions: This is not a child’s play

“The claim that the sanctions are anti-Serb because some of those sanctioned are Serb is preposterous. It ignores the fact that one of the sanctioned individuals is a Croat, not a Serb, and it arrogantly presents the other individuals as avatars of the Serb people. They are not. They are individuals, and they are responsible for their own actions as well as for bearing the consequences of those actions, just as Osman “Osmica” Mehmedagic and Marinko Cavara are,” the embassy said, referring to US sanctions that were earlier imposed on some Bosnian officials.

It reminded that the United States has worked closely with and assisted people across all of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Republika Srpska, for many years, “investing hundreds of millions of dollars to support them and their aspirations to live in a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous country that affords them, their children, and their grandchildren opportunities to thrive.”

“The actions of four irresponsible politicians does not and will not change the United States’ commitment to these shared objectives,” the embassy underlined.