The administration of Republika Srpska, a Bosnian entity dominated by Serbs, was obliged to transfer to a new web domain in Serbia on October 26 due to recent US sanctions.
Email addresses and online services were rendered inaccessible until Thursday, when the Republika Srpska government website reopened at www.vladars.rs.
In a written response, the Republika Srpska government press office told reporters that “following the decision of the registrar from the United States, the expert services of the Government of the Republic of Srpska have undertaken all the necessary activities, and as of today, everything is set up for smooth operation.”
In order to facilitate public contact again, Republika Srpska institutions will henceforth use the.rs domain for their email addresses. The government of Republika Srpska reassured citizens that there has been no loss of functioning or compromise of security of government data.
In addition to declaring a legal challenge to the US move, the statement claims that the Republika Srpska government has paid for the domain’s use through the end of February 2025. The identity of the new domain supplier was kept a secret.
The statement continued, “The Government of the Republika Srpska will engage legal experts to prepare a lawsuit against the company which, without prior notice and notification, prevented the use of the Government of the Republika Srpska’s website.”
The son and daughter of Republika Srpska’s president, Milorad Dodik, Igor and Gorica Dodik, were added to the list of people blacklisted by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 20.
In addition to Dodik’s children, OFAC also imposed sanctions on four legal entities that “facilitate Dodik’s ongoing corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska entity, allowing him to siphon public funds from the RS and enrich himself and his family.”
The businesses targeted by OFAC are named Global Liberty, Agro Voce, Agape, and Gradiska. All four commercial entities receive public assistance from Republika Srpska “through preferential treatment as a result of being owned by Dodik’s family,” said OFAC.
“With the financial and political support of the individuals and entities designated today, Dodik has engaged in corruption that ensures his personal financial and political stability at the expense of [Bosnia-Herzegovina] citizens living in Republika Srpska,” US Treasury Undersecretary Brian E. Nelson said in a news release.
Before moving to the new web domain, the Republika Srpska refused to utilize the official domains for the Bosnian government,.gov.ba, and the country,.ba, since it began to use institutional websites.
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