On June 8, 2021, President Biden signed a new Executive Order, “Blocking Property and Suspending Entry Into the United States of Certain Persons Contributing to the Destabilizing Situation in the Wester Balkans” pursuant to International Emergency Economic powers Act (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and section 301 of USC title 3. The EO was issued to expand the scope of the national emergency declared in EO 13219 of June 26, 2001, as amended by EO 13304 of May 28, 2003, due to the worsening situation in the Western Balkans over the last two decades, including widespread corruption and the undermining of post-war agreements and institutions following the breakup of former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, that threatens US national security and foreign policy.
The new Executive Order will block all US property and interests in property for persons who the Secretary of Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determines to be responsible for or complicit in actions that threaten the peace, security, and stability of any area or state within the Western Balkans. The EO will also restrict the entry of noncitizens into the US whose presence is determined to be contrary to US interests.
Department of Treasury Recent Actions | EO Related to Situation in Western Balkans