The US Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, announced on Wednesday that it was removing the former Republika Srpska President, 30 of his associates and more than 25 companies linked to the Dodik family from its sanctions list.
Dodik allies in the US and Europe also welcomed the move.
Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former Governor of Illinois whose company signed a lobbying contract with the Republika Srpska government in March 2025, called it “a new day in the Balkans, where Serb and Croat Christians can hope for true autonomy and closer ties with the United States”.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto described it as “great news”, expressing hope that “European colleagues will understand the message of this decision.”
At home, a spokesperson for Dodik’s party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, Radovan Kovacevic, told BIRN that the lifting of sanctions corrected the “bad policies of the Biden and Obama administrations”, calling it an opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina to “get another chance”. He declined to comment on any lobbying efforts in Washington that preceded the decision.
But not everyone shared the joy. Nebojsa Vukanovic, an opposition leader of the “For Justice and Order” movement in Republika Srpska, called the decision “a political trade” and accused Dodik of selling out public resources to regain US favour.
“Now we need to see what Dodik has betrayed, what he promised the Americans. Will Bosnia join NATO? Did he promise them lithium, [the RS electric company] Elektroprivreda, or some other resource?” Vukanovic asked.
He told BIRN that Dodik would now use the US move as a campaign tool: “He’ll present himself as globally important, claiming support from both Trump and Putin. He’ll turn this capitulation into a victory – the only question is how much it will cost us.”
A foreign policy analyst, Denis Avdagic, similarly linked the move to behind-the-scenes diplomacy. “It seems this serves as a reward for withdrawing unconstitutional laws, peacefully stepping down from office [as the RS president] and accepting the court’s verdict [sentencing him to jail and banning him from office] – a diplomatic carrot after the stick,” Avdagic told BIRN.
Sabina Cudic, president of the opposition Nasa Stranka (Our Party), said the US had likely assessed that its three main conditions were met: “Dodik’s withdrawal [from the RS presidency], recognition of decisions by state institutions, and acceptance of Constitutional Court rulings through the decisions of the RS assembly.”
The Bosniak and Croat members of the state Presidency, Denis Becirovic and Zeljko Komsic, as well as Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic, did not respond to BIRN’s requests for comment.
