Dodik, the Serbian representative of the country’s co-presidency, and Svijanovic, President of Republika Srpska, the independent Serbian-majority entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, will see their assets in the UK be frozen and they will be banned from entering British territory, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

London believes that Dodik and Svijanovic, with the consent of Russia, “used their positions of power to promote a ‘de facto’ separation from Republika Srpska”.

Foreign Ministry: Bosnian Serb leaders “encouraged” by Putin.

It is the first punishment issued by the British executive branch based on a regulation approved in 2020 that allows punishment of those who “undermine or threaten the sovereignty, territorial integrity, international character or constitutionality of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

State Department chief Liz Truss said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “deliberately encouraged” by these two politicians to undermine the costly peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“With these tough sanctions, we show that the enemies of peace will be held accountable for them,” the British minister added.

jov (efe, standard.co.uk)