EU has not made a decision to sanction Milorad Dodik

N1

The EU has not made any decision on imposing sanctions against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, the European Commission told N1 on Monday.

N1 asked about possible sanctions against the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency after local media reported that one of the former international administrators in the country, Wolfgang Petritsch, said the EU could ban Dodik from entering its territory.  

The EU has since 2011 maintained a framework to “enable imposing restrictive measures against persons who seriously threaten the security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and undermine the Dayton peace agreements,” the EU Commission said.  

“The EU Council has not considered it necessary to make use of such an instrument against any person so far. This sanction framework is renewed annually (currently in force until end of March) and the review is ongoing,” it said.  

Dodik has come under fire for his recent statements regarding the latest political crisis in Bosnia. The Bosnian Serb leader has been mentioning the possibility of Republika Srpska (RS), the Serb-majority semi-autonomous entity in the country, seceding from Bosnia. He called it ‘RSExit’.