Slovenia on Thursday imposed sanctions and barred Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, a pro-Russian separatist, from entering the European Union country.
Slovenia is the latest European Union member state to impose a travel ban on Dodik, following similar moves by Germany, Austria, Lithuania and Poland earlier this year.
The Slovenian government's decision followed Dodik's refusal to step down from the position of the president of the Serb Republic, or Republika Srpska (RS), despite a court ruling that removed him from office.
In August, Dodik was formally ousted by Bosnia's electoral authorities after he was sentenced to a year in prison and banned from politics for six years for flouting decisions made by the international envoy in charge of the peace deal that ended the 1990s war.
Dodik, who travelled to Russia this week, has routinely challenged the envoy and repeatedly called for the separation of the Serb-run half of Bosnia to join Serbia, which has prompted U.S. sanctions against himself and his close associates and family.
