Dodik hoped that Trump would lift his sanctions in his first term, but that did not happen, and now he cautiously hopes that because of his support for Trump, the new US president will be more understanding of him. “I can’t say that I have any hope,” said Dodik, adding that at the moment he only hopes to have an opportunity to communicate with the new administration that would ease his position
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik boasted days ago that only he and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban openly supported Donald Trump in Europe during the election campaign, so he now hopes that the new administration in Washington will have a friendly relationship with Republika Srpska . On Wednesday, Dodik and his supporters loudly celebrated Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, but later in the day he received news that an entrepreneur close to him and the company he runs were blacklisted. by the US Treasury Department because they were discovered to be part of a network supporting the personal enrichment of Dodik and members of his family.
“REVENGE” CONVINCED
Dodik only commented a day later and claimed it was retaliation from the Joe Biden administration, saying he hoped that would change after Trump returned to the White House. “Biden and his administration were the mortal enemies of the RS and I’m glad they’re gone,” Dodik told reporters nervously, claiming that in the last 30 years in the US they created lies at the expense of the Bosnian Serbs and he said that this is why they invented the genocide in Srebrenica as well as the crimes in Markale in Sarajevo. He once again insulted the current US ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Michael Murphy, whom he called “stink” and “criminal” and said that only after his departure will the “rehabilitation of relations” with the US continue. .
REMOVAL OF SANCTIONS
Dodik has been under a dual regime of US sanctions since 2017, when they were imposed by the Barack Obama administration for jeopardizing the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, and a new round of sanctions arrived in 2022 for corruption. Dodik’s son Igor and daughter Gorica, as well as all of his key political associates, from BiH presidency member Zheljka Cvijanovic to a number of ministers in the RS government, are under sanctions filed by the Ministry of Finance. of the USA.
Dodik hoped that Trump would lift his sanctions in his first term, but that did not happen, and now he cautiously hopes that because of his support for Trump, the new US president will be more understanding of him. “I can’t say that I have any hope,” said Dodik, adding that at the moment he only hopes to have an opportunity to communicate with the new administration that would ease his position. He claims that several contacts of this type have already been established.
US POLICY
Unlike Dodik, politicians in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina believe that there will be no significant changes in the relationship between the US and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The prime minister of that entity and the leader of SDP BiH, Nermin Nikšić, recalled yesterday that the republican and democratic administrations in the USA have alternated before, but Washington’s policy has always been the same, defending support for the integrity of BiH and strengthening its institutions. , as well as the path to EU and NATO membership.
“I am sure that the new old president of the USA, Donald Trump, will continue the ten-year policy of the USA in support of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its sovereignty and integrity, and all our citizens,” Nikšić wrote in his official Facebook profile.
The president of HDZ, Dragan Čovic, also thinks so, who says that he is convinced that the change in the White House will not affect the attitude towards BiH. “There are several reasons. One is that we are small and as such not very significant in any strategic or even tactical framework. However, the USA has done and invested a lot in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in our democratic processes and I believe that they will continue to do so in the future, I think that we will have continuity in the American policy towards BiH and the entire region”. Covic said to the Fena agency.
