Opposition leaders in Bosnia’s Serb entity, Republika Srpska (RS), have sharply criticized the United States’ decision to lift sanctions on top RS officials, calling it a “betrayal” of Serb national interests and a “capitulation” by ruling party leader Milorad Dodik to foreign influence.
The U.S. Treasury this week removed Dodik, Serb member of Bosnia’s presidency Željka Cvijanović, RS parliament speaker Nenad Stevandić and 43 other individuals and entities from its sanctions list. Washington had previously accused them of undermining Bosnia’s 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement and of involvement in what it described as Dodik’s “criminal network” extracting money from public companies through rigged tenders.
Opposition Calls It a “Sellout”
Jovica Radulović, acting head of the opposition Serb Democratic Party (SDS), said the decision reflected “high treason” and accused Dodik of “selling out Republika Srpska” for personal protection.
“It’s clear he traded away Serb national interests, humiliated RS and handed it over to foreigners,” Radulović told the Banja Luka–based portal Srpskainfo. “Let him tell us the price of his betrayal so we can collect that money and pay him to finally free Republika Srpska.”
The SDS itself remains under U.S. sanctions imposed in 2004, along with senior party officials Milovan Bjelica and Dragomir Vasić.
Neboјša Vukanović, leader of the Justice and Order List, said “time will show what Dodik gave up and what he promised.”
Jelena Trivić, head of the opposition People’s Front (NF), said the delisting came after “capitulation” by the ruling SNSD majority in the RS parliament. She accused Dodik of removing key laws, including one on state property, effectively transferring control of RS assets to the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the international body overseeing Bosnia’s postwar peace accord.
“In exchange for the lifting of sanctions, Dodik has given away a lot — including state property and progress toward NATO membership, which was one of his key concessions,” she said. “Republika Srpska is now in a much weaker position than it was three years ago.”
Trivić accused Dodik of being “ready to destroy RS just to stay in power.”
Dodik Thanks Trump, Calls Decision a “Moral Rehabilitation”
Dodik, who leads the ruling Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and previously served as RS president, welcomed the decision and credited former U.S. president Donald Trump and his team for “correcting a great injustice” inflicted by the administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“The decision to lift sanctions is not only a legal but also a moral rehabilitation of the truth about Republika Srpska and those who serve it honorably,” Dodik wrote on the social media platform X.
He said the sanctions had been based on “lies and propaganda” that created chaos under the current international envoy in Bosnia, Christian Schmidt. “Those who believed Republika Srpska would fall can be forgiven everything but the years we lost,” Dodik said. “It’s clear now — RS will never fall.”
Cvijanović said she received the news of the sanctions removal upon arriving in Paris for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, calling it “a positive step” that affected more than 30 individuals and several companies from RS.
RS parliamentary speaker Stevandić said the move reflected “new political circumstances” and showed that “Republika Srpska is becoming a serious factor that must be taken into account.”
The U.S. State Department and Treasury have not commented publicly on the reasoning behind the decision.
Would you like me to make it slightly shorter — e.g. in the format of a Reuters wire (under 450 words) suitable for publication — or keep this longer analytical version?