US Slaps Sanctions on Milorad Dodik and TV Outlet Under his Control
By Svetla Miteva
The United States on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on the Bosnian Serb leader, Milorad Dodik and a television station under his control for “significant corruption and destabilizing activities”.
Washington warned of further action against those linked to destabilization or corruption.
The designation of Banja Luka-based media outlet Alternativna Television (ATV) marks a major step in acknowledging the role of the media in sowing division within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The U.S. said Dodik “exerts personal control over ATV behind the scenes, such as by requiring personal approval on media stories related to politically sensitive topics.”
Dodik has used ATV to further his own agenda, which includes his efforts to denigrate other political figures, burnish his public image, and advance his own personal and political goals. He is also thought to have awarded ATV-related contracts to members of his family and funnelled public money into ATV for corrupt purposes.
Dodik substantially increased funding for ATV in recent years to support his malign campaign to divide Bosnia and advance his own political goals.
The latest designations are part of an executive order allowing the US to target anyone threatening peace or stability in the Western Balkans.
Pro-Serb propaganda and genocide denial are commonplace on state-backed and politically influenced media in Republika Srpska – the Bosnian Serb-controlled entity of federal Bosnia Herzegovina – as well as from Serbian and Russian media outlets in the region.
In the 2021 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters without Borders, Bosnia and Herzegovina was described as having a political climate, marked by constant verbal attacks and nationalist rhetoric, resulting in a hostile environment for press freedom.
This has poisoned public discourse and provided a platform for Dodik to spread his divisive rhetoric which now threatens to disrupt the peace achieved by the US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995.
In the last few months, the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been exacerbated as the result of provocative statements by Serb member of the Bosnian presidency Dodik that Republika Srpska will create its own armed forces, judiciary and tax system.
This was Dodik’s response to a proposed law banning genocide denial related to Serb. Popular support for Dodik’s position has been fuelled by an information war orchestrated by the pro-Serb media. His plans are to make Republika Srpska a de facto independent entity that could eventually join Serbia. They risk Bosnia and Herzegovina falling apart.
It is about time the media’s role in Bosnia’s worst political crisis since the 1990s was recognised.
Svetla Miteva is a journalist with nearly 30 years experience reporting for the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA)
