The UK has announced sanctions against two Bosnian-Serb politicians, censuring them for attempts to undermine the legitimacy and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The sanctions against Milorad Dodik and Zeljka Cvijanovic, which include asset freezes and travel bans, are the first to be announced by the UK under the Bosnia and Herzegovina sanctions regime.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused the pair of being emboldened by Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.
“These two politicians are deliberately undermining the hard won peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Ms Truss said in a statement. “Encouraged by Putin, their reckless behavior threatens stability and security across the Western Balkans.”
Mr Dodik is the Bosnian-Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three-person state-level presidency. Ms Cvijanovic is the president of the entity of Republika Srpska.
UK authorities say the pair have have used their positions to push for de facto secession of Republika Srpska — one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities — in direct contravention of the country’s constitution.
The US imposed new sanctions on Mr Dodik in January after accusing him of “corrupt activities” that threaten to destabilise the region and undermine the US-brokered Dayton Peace Accord.
Mr Dodik said he and Bosnian Serbs are being unfairly targeted and wrongly accused of corruption.
The agreement in 1995 ended the war in Bosnia, which killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless.
The accord established two separate governing entities in Bosnia — Republika Srpska run by Bosnia’s Serbs, and another dominated by Bosniaks, an ethnic group that is primarily Muslim, and Croats.
The two are linked by shared, state-wide institutions, and all actions at a national level require consensus from all three ethnic groups.
Russia has pledged support for Mr Dodik and his associates.
