The United States has sanctioned Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Prime Minister Fadil Novalic and businessman Slobodan Stankovic, the US State Department said in a press release on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2022) The United States has sanctioned Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Prime Minister Fadil Novalic and businessman Slobodan Stankovic, the US State Department said in a press release on Monday.
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities - the other being Republika Srpska - established by the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that make up the country Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"The United States is designating Fadil Novalic, Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH); Slobodan Stankovic, a businessman with close ties to Milorad Dodik, a Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) official previously designated for corruption and obstructing the Dayton Peace Agreement; and Stankovic's business entity, Integral Inzenjering A.D. Laktasi (Integral)," the release said.
The State Department said the ruling coalition in Republika Srpska is seeking under Dodik's leadership to create parallel structures that undermine state-level institutions.
At the same time, ethno-nationalist parties in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are crippling the country's democratic processes and abusing positions of power to derive improper financial and political benefit, the release said.
Novalic is being designated for allegedly undermining the democratic processes or the country's institutions by misusing his position and public funds, the release said.
"As Prime Minister of the FBiH, where the issue of pensions has strong political salience, he misused pensioner data contrary to BiH law for the benefit of his own political party. This action is just one of many publicly reported activities in which he used his position for personal or party gain and undermined democratic processes and political institutions essential to BiH's chosen future within the Euro-Atlantic community," the release said.
The State Department said Stankovic has been designated for providing financial, material and technological support to Dodik.
"Stankovic has long supported Dodik's destabilizing activities. Stankovic's firm Integral receives major construction projects in the RS without fair and open competition due to its close connections to RS leadership. In return, Stankovic provided support to Dodik's propaganda machine by transforming the formerly independent media outlet, Alternativna Televizija, into a mouthpiece for Dodik and his destabilizing and divisive activities," the release said.
The US Treasury Department had designated Alternativna Televizija in January, the release added.
The US sanctions program in the so-called "Western Balkans" targets individuals and entities that, among other criteria, undermine or threaten the agreements and institutions established by the Dayton Peace Agreement, according to the release.
