Milorad Dodik thanked Donald Trump for what he described as rectifying a “grave injustice” by the previous US administration.
The US Treasury Department announced Wednesday that Washington has removed sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his family members.
These restrictions, initially imposed in 2022 under President Joe Biden and later broadened, targeted Dodik for allegedly undermining the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement. This agreement established Bosnia and Herzegovina as a nation comprising two largely autonomous entities: the Serb-majority Republika Srpska and the Bosnian-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Treasury’s decision comes after Dodik formally agreed to relinquish his claim to power in Republika Srpska, the Serb entity he previously led as president.
In an X post, Dodik thanked former US President Donald Trump, stating the action “corrected a grave injustice inflicted upon Republika Srpska, its representatives, and their families.” He asserted that the move proved “the accusations made against us were nothing but lies and propaganda.”
Dodik agreed to step down following a dispute with Bosnia’s central government in Sarajevo and Christian Schmidt, the German diplomat heading the Office of the High Representative (OHR), which oversees the implementation of the Dayton Agreement. A Bosnian court had previously sentenced Dodik to prison, later reduced to a fine. A new regional election is scheduled for November.
Dodik has long opposed Bosnia’s integration into NATO and the European Union, instead favoring closer relations with Serbia and Russia. Earlier this month, Dodik told Russian media that EU leaders had “destroyed all the advantages that [Western] Europe once offered” and accused them of implementing authoritarian and militaristic policies to mask their failures.
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