In a move that has sent shockwaves through the Balkans and reverberated across international diplomatic circles, the United States lifted sanctions on Milorad Dodik, the controversial Bosnian Serb leader, and dozens of his associates on October 30, 2025. The decision, confirmed by the U.S. State Department and widely reported by outlets including CNN and Balkan Insight, comes after months of political maneuvering, lobbying, and contentious debate over Dodik’s legacy and the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik, who was ousted from the presidency of Republika Srpska earlier in October 2025, wasted no time in celebrating the move. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he publicly thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for “correcting the great injustice inflicted on Republika Srpska.” In his words, “The decision to lift sanctions is not only legal but a moral rehabilitation of the truth about the RS and all those who honourably serve it.” Dodik further claimed, “Once again, it has been shown that everything said against us was lies and propaganda,” and pointed a finger at Bosnia’s international overseer, Christian Schmidt, whom he accused of having made “a big mess that now has to be cleaned up,” according to Balkan Insight.
Dodik’s allies were quick to echo his sentiments. Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Serb member of the Bosnian state Presidency who was also on the sanctions list, learned of the decision while landing in Paris for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. She described it as “good news,” underscoring the sense of vindication felt by Dodik’s inner circle.
Yet, the road to this dramatic policy reversal was anything but straightforward. As CNN highlighted, Dodik’s removal from the U.S. sanctions list followed a months-long lobbying campaign orchestrated by supporters of Donald Trump. These efforts portrayed Dodik as a defender of “Christian values” in a country with a predominantly Muslim population and cast him as a victim of what they called a “war on the right” being waged by the United States. The lobbying push intensified after Trump’s return to the White House, with prominent MAGA figures joining the fray to support Dodik. Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer, claimed the sanctions relief was “the latest example of a brazen attack on leaders like Trump around the world,” and Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, urged the president to “embrace” Dodik and join forces with Republika Srpska to defeat “globalists.” Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former personal attorney, even visited Republika Srpska earlier in the year, sporting “Make Srpska Great Again” hats alongside the familiar MAGA gear.
Lobbyists Rod Blagojevich and Marc Zell were central to these efforts. According to U.S. Justice Department filings cited by CNN, Blagojevich’s firm, RRB Strategies LLC, signed a contract with the Republika Srpska government in March 2025 to lobby state officials and “improve the lifting of sanctions.” Zell, meanwhile, inked a $1 million-per-year contract with a bonus for success, though he later stated that the bonus provisions were waived in accordance with U.S. law.
Despite the intense lobbying, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – the agency responsible for administering and enforcing economic sanctions – did not provide a detailed explanation for lifting the sanctions on Dodik and more than 40 individuals and entities. The lack of clarity prompted questions from media and lawmakers alike. The U.S. State Department, however, cited “constructive actions” by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska as a key factor influencing the decision. As relayed to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the State Department said these actions “should help improve stability in Bosnia and enable a partnership with the United States based on shared interests, economic potential, and prosperity.”
So, what were these constructive actions? On October 18, 2025, the General Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted a series of laws repealing previous legislation that had been declared invalid by the Bosnian Constitutional Court. These included laws related to immovable property, the non-enforcement of Constitutional Court decisions, election laws, and amendments to the criminal code, among others. The Assembly also invalidated 12 parliamentary conclusions from December 2024 that Western embassies had described as “positions against the Dayton Agreement.” Furthermore, Ana Trisic-Babic, Dodik’s former advisor, was appointed acting president of Republika Srpska in the wake of Dodik’s ouster and conviction by a Bosnian court.
Dodik’s legal troubles have been extensive. He was sanctioned twice by the U.S. for violating the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War in 1995 and divided the country into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb-led Republika Srpska. Dodik’s conviction by a Bosnian court for signing a law that called for non-implementation of Bosnia’s Constitutional Court decisions resulted in a one-year prison sentence, later replaced with a fine, and a six-year ban from holding office. Despite these setbacks, Dodik has remained a powerful and polarizing figure, regularly threatening secession from Bosnia and forging close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The decision to lift sanctions has not been without its critics. American Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the move “irresponsible and premature.” In her words, “Dodik undermined the Dayton Peace Agreement, drew closer to Putin, and profited from corruption – hardly grounds for relief. The American people deserve an answer.” Many observers, both in Bosnia and abroad, worry that the decision sets a troubling precedent, suggesting that with the right political connections and lobbyists, even those accused of undermining peace agreements and engaging in corruption can be rehabilitated in the eyes of the international community.
For Dodik and his supporters, however, the lifting of sanctions is seen as a long-overdue vindication. Dodik himself framed the move as redress for the “serious injustice” suffered by Republika Srpska under previous U.S. administrations. He has long contended that the sanctions were politically motivated and part of a broader effort to marginalize Serb leaders in Bosnia.
The U.S. State Department, for its part, has emphasized that it will “continue to work closely with political actors across Bosnia to set common priorities.” Whether the recent actions by Republika Srpska’s Assembly will indeed foster greater stability and partnership remains to be seen. The region’s history is fraught with ethnic tensions, contested narratives, and the ever-present specter of outside influence—from both the West and Russia.
As Bosnia and Herzegovina stands at another crossroads, the world will be watching closely to see whether the lifting of sanctions marks a new chapter of reconciliation and reform, or simply another twist in the country’s long and tumultuous journey.
