The U.S. announced on 29 October the removal of sanctions imposed on Milorad Dodik, the former president of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on 29 October the removal of sanctions imposed on Milorad Dodik, the former president of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity, along with 48 associated individuals and entities.
The State Department attributed the decision to recent legislative steps by the RS National Assembly, describing them as measures that “should contribute to the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina and enable a partnership with the United States based on shared interests, economic potential, and prosperity.”
The Trump administration’s reversal marks a significant departure from prior U.S. policy, potentially easing immediate tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina while raising questions about the durability of Dayton compliance and Dodik’s enduring influence over Republika Srpska.
A spokesperson told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that Washington would continue to work closely with political actors across the spectrum in Bosnia and Herzegovina to establish shared priorities.
Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist and leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), had been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for obstructing the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War and preserved the country’s multi-ethnic framework. Further sanctions were added in 2022 under the Biden administration, which accused him of undermining state institutions, defying the international high representative, and using his position to amass personal wealth through graft, bribery, and corruption. In August 2025, a Bosnian court convicted Dodik of ignoring decisions by High Representative Christian Schmidt and the Constitutional Court, banning him from public office for six years and effectively ending his RS presidency.
The turning point came on 18 October, when the RS parliament repealed several laws previously ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These included provisions on state property, the non-application of court rulings, electoral regulations, and criminal code amendments.
The assembly also revoked 12 resolutions adopted in December 2024 that Western embassies had branded “anti-Dayton” for their separatist implications. In the same session, lawmakers appointed Ana Trišić Babić as acting RS president to serve until early elections scheduled for 23 November, formally acknowledging Dodik’s removal from office for the first time.
OFAC delisted Dodik alongside BiH Presidency member Željka Cvijanović, his children Igor and Gorica, and a wide circle of senior RS officials. Sanctions were also lifted from businesses linked to the Dodik family. Although OFAC offered no detailed rationale, Serb officials suggested the removals stemmed from discreet efforts to cultivate warmer ties with Washington while preserving close relations with Russia.
Dodik swiftly thanked U.S. President Donald Trump and his team on X for what he called the correction of a “great injustice” perpetrated by the Obama and Biden administrations against Republika Srpska, its representatives, and their families. He framed the decision as both a legal correction and a moral vindication of the entity’s truth, insisting that accusations against him had been built on lies and propaganda orchestrated by High Representative Schmidt.
Despite the court ban, Dodik has continued to act in a presidential capacity, including international travel, and is appealing both the verdict – expected to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court next week, and the election commission’s decision to revoke his mandate.
The shift aligns with lobbying by Trump associates, including MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and retired general Michael Flynn. Earlier in 2025, Dodik retained former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich—pardoned by Trump in 2020—to advocate on behalf of Republika Srpska. Opposition figures in Republika Srpska condemned the developments as a betrayal of Serb national interests and a capitulation by Dodik to foreign pressure. Jovica Radulović, acting president of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), which remains sanctioned since 2004 along with party officials Milovan Bjelica and Dragomir Vasić – labeled the episode “high treason” and accused Dodik of selling out the entity to safeguard his family and alleged billions stashed abroad. “Let him say exactly how much money his treason costs,” Radulović declared to the Banja Luka portal Srpskainfo, proposing a public referendum to compensate Dodik and free Republika Srpska from his influence.
Nebojsa Vukanović of the List for Justice and Order warned that time would expose the full scope of Dodik’s concessions. Jelena Trivić, leader of the People’s Front, tied the sanctions relief directly to the appointment of Trišić Babić, whom she branded the entity’s foremost NATO advocate, and the withdrawal of laws on immovable property, which she said effectively ceded control to the Office of the High Representative. In exchange, Trivić contended, Dodik had surrendered the entity’s “red line” on property ownership and accelerated NATO integration, leaving Republika Srpska constitutionally weaker than three years earlier.
“We have no property, we will have to join NATO, and why – to lift the sanctions on Dodik and the people around him,” she said, accusing him of readiness to dismantle the entity to preserve his political career.
Draško Stanivuković, head of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) and the “Sigurna Srpska” movement, charged that the RS government had “sold” the National Assembly to restore family enterprises such as Gorica Dodik’s Agape restaurant and Igor Dodik’s Agro Voće, which could now resume receiving subsidies.