Bosnia’s Serb leader meets US officials in Washington months after sanctions lifted

​​​​​​​By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik met senior US officials in Washington this week, months after the Trump administration lifted sanctions against him for actions undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s postwar peace agreement.

Dodik, accompanied by other Republika Srpska officials, including Acting President Ana Trisic Babic, held meetings with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Speaker Mike Johnson and White spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

After meeting Hegseth, Dodik wrote Thursday on X that the defense secretary “understands how essential strength, principled leadership, and the defence of Christian values are to preserving freedom and the dignity of nations worldwide.”

Separately, Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, met Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. According to the State Department, Landau underscored the US’ interest in “expanding economic cooperation and highlighted the completion of the Southern Interconnection gas pipeline as a strategic energy priority.”

Earlier this month, Dodik and Babic visited Israel, meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Dodik, first sanctioned in 2017 for undermining the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement and again in 2022, was sentenced last year to one year in prison and barred from politics for six years for defying international oversight.

Known for his frequent secessionist rhetoric, Dodik has repeatedly argued that Bosnia should adopt a new political agreement or separate entirely.

The 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War, established Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state composed of two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS). Disagreements, however, about the interpretation and implementation of the agreement remain a source of contention.

Critics, including Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, called the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions “reckless and premature,” citing Dodik’s ties to Russia, and accusing him of undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Dodik remains under sanctions from the UK.