US sanctions 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina leaders

WASHINGTON

The US sanctioned on Monday two leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, alleging they have undermined regional stability and the country's Dayton Peace Accords.

Marinko Cavara, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina president, and Alen Seranic, the Republika Srpska health minister, are being added to the US blacklist, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The Republika Srpska is the Bosnian entity that comprises part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Cavara has refused to nominated judges to the country's constitutional court since 2019, and has thereby blocked its Court’s Vital National Interest panel from functioning, the department said. Seranic has been behind efforts within the Republika Srpska to secede, it added.

“Marinko Cavara and Alen Seranic have each sought to pursue ethnonationalist and political agendas at the expense of the democratic institutions and citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department's senior official for financial intelligence, said.

“Today’s action demonstrates the United States’ steadfast commitment to the stability and prosperity of Bosnia and Herzegovina," he added.

The signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, which are also known as the 1995 General Framework Agreement for Peace, ended the three-and-a-half year Bosnian War. Some 100,000 people are estimated to have died in the conflict.