SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) – Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik has dismissed U.S. sanctions imposed on him for obstructing the peace accords that ended Bosnia’s war two decades ago, calling it a reversible act of revenge by the departing Obama administration.
Dodik, who is the president of Republika Srpska, the Serb-run part of Bosnia, said Wednesday he was confident that his relationship with the U.S. will improve after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Friday.
Dodik claimed the sanctions were masterminded by the departing U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia, Maureen Cormack, adding she was “a proven enemy of Serbs” and should be declared persona non grata in Bosnia.
“We expect from the incoming U.S. administration to remove her and initiate criminal proceedings against her . for interfering in internal affairs of other countries,” Dodik told reporters.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced the sanctions Tuesday against Dodik for threatening national sovereignty by defying a ruling of Bosnia’s constitutional court. The sanctions freeze any assets Dodik has in the U.S. and ban Americans from doing business with him.