Kočan on 'fake' measures: Slovenian sanctions against Dodik without financial consequences, why is that so?

(Patria) - Slovenia should impose sanctions on the former President of Republika Srpska and President of SNSD, Milorad Dodik, but it appears the measures will be limited to a travel ban, while Dodik's assets in Slovenia will not be subject to the decisions.

Faris Kočan, a professor and researcher at the Centre for International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana, spoke to Patria about this. He notes that the Slovenian government is actually 'washing its face in front of international partners' with this decision, but is essentially avoiding tackling the problem.

– It is just silencing critics. If Dodik can be banned from entering, as was done with Israeli politicians Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, then the problem is not with the laws, but with political will. However, assets will not be touched because the government does not want to open the issue of capital linked to Dodik and his circles in Slovenia – Kočan said.

According to him, the Slovenian public perceives this topic as marginal, while pressure for sanctions comes more from European institutions and security services. An additional problem, he says, lies in internal political relations.

– Social Democrats in Slovenia still see Dodik as a 'positive figure', and even as someone ideologically close. This makes decision-making difficult, but they are too small to stop the process. They are not large enough to stop the processes, but everything points to a game where someone is trying to absolve themselves. However, the connections between Janković and Dodik are clear.

If everything is indeed reduced to a travel ban, it means there is an agreement not to touch what is most important to Dodik and his network in Slovenia – assets and economic ties – Kočan emphasized.

He concludes that the government's key motive is to appear to be acting, even though the 'real issues will be left for later, until external pressures force them to react again'.

Otherwise, the money that Dodik has pumped into Slovenia is enormous. But he is not alone. We have more and more Serbian tycoons here. And they are buying everything in sight. And it is known that they are the forerunners of Russian tycoons," Politicki.ba reported yesterday, quoting a high-ranking official speaking on condition of anonymity.

It is precisely this pumping of Serbian-Serb money into Slovenia that has set off alarms in Slovenia's security services.

At their request, the Slovenian Government last week considered the initiative to impose sanctions on Dodik. And on Netanyahu.

"The Prime Minister of Israel is 'decoration' here. And there is no dispute whether Slovenian sanctions should be imposed on him. Dodik is a different story. The amounts of money he has invested in Slovenia are such that it has simply contaminated the country's political scene. And not only when it comes to the right wing, but increasingly parties to the left of center," the sources said.