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The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on October 29 the lifting of sanctions imposed on Milorad Dodik, the former president of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with 48 individuals and entities associated with him.
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 of stance marks a significant departure from previous US policy, potentially easing immediate tensions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, while raising questions about the sustainability of the Dayton accord and Dodik's lasting influence over Republika Srpska.
Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist and leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), had been under US sanctions since 2017 for obstructing the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War and preserved the country's multiethnic framework.
Further sanctions were added in 2022 under the Biden administration, which accused him of undermining state institutions, defying the high-ranking international representative, and using his position to amass personal wealth through bribery, kickbacks, and corruption.
In August 2025, a Bosnian court convicted Dodik of ignoring the decisions of High Representative Christian Schmidt and the Constitutional Court, banning him from public office for six years and effectively ending his presidency of RS.
The turning point came on October 18, when the RS parliament repealed several laws that had previously been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These included provisions on state property, non-enforcement of court decisions, election regulations, and changes to the criminal code.
The assembly also revoked 12 resolutions adopted in December 2024 that Western embassies had called “anti-Dayton” for their separatist implications. In the same session, lawmakers appointed Ana Trisic Babic as interim president of RS to serve until early elections scheduled for November 23, formally accepting Dodik’s removal from office for the first time.
OFAC removed Dodik from the list along with BiH Presidency member Zeljka Cvijanovic, 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 did not offer any detailed reasoning, Serbian officials suggested that the departures stemmed from discreet efforts to cultivate warmer ties with Washington while maintaining close relations with Russia.
Dodik quickly thanked US President Donald Trump and his team at X for what he called the righting of a “great injustice” committed by the Obama and Biden administrations against Republika Srpska, its representatives and their families. He described the decision as a legal correction and a moral vindication of the entity’s truth, insisting that the accusations against him were built on lies and propaganda orchestrated by High Representative Schmidt.
Despite the court's ban, Dodik has continued to act in his capacity as president, including on international trips, and is appealing both the decision, which is expected to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court next week, and the election commission's decision to revoke his mandate.
This change 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 hired former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, pardoned by Trump in 202, to advocate on behalf of Republika Srpska.
Opposition figures in Republika Srpska condemned the developments as a betrayal of Serbian national interests and a capitulation by Dodik to foreign pressure. Jovica Radulovic, the acting president of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), which has remained sanctioned since 2004 along with party officials Milovan Bjelica and Dragomir Vasic, called the episode "high treason" and accused Dodik of selling out the entity to protect his family and claiming to have billions hidden abroad. "Let him say exactly how much his betrayal costs," Radulovic told the Banja Luka-based Srpskainfo portal, proposing a public referendum to compensate Dodik and free Republika Srpska from his influence.
Nebojsa Vukanovic of the Justice and Order List warned that time would expose the full range of Dodik’s concessions. Jelena Trivic, leader of the Popular Front, linked the easing of sanctions directly to the appointment of Trisic Babic, whom she called the entity’s most prominent lawyer in NATO, and the withdrawal of laws on real estate, which she said effectively ceded control to the Office of the High Representative. In return, Trivic claimed, Dodik had dropped the entity’s “red line” on property ownership and accelerated NATO integration, leaving Republika Srpska constitutionally weaker than it was three years ago.
“We have no property, we will have to join NATO, and why – lift sanctions on Dodik and the people around him,” she said, accusing him of being willing to dissolve the entity to preserve his political career.
Drasko Stanivukovic, leader of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) and the “Sigurna Srpska” movement, accused the RS government of having “sold out” the National Assembly to restore family businesses such as Gorica Dodik’s Agape restaurant and Igor Dodik’s Agro Voće, which can now resume receiving subsidies.
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