BELGRADE – Milorad Dodik has said he asked the Trump administration to secure Christian Schmidt’s departure as High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina during negotiations over lifting US sanctions against him.
Speaking on Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), Dodik claimed that US officials had requested the repeal of “two or three” Republika Srpska laws that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had already struck down.
According to Dodik, he agreed to the request but demanded further concessions from Washington.
“I said: ‘Fine, but that’s too little from your side'”, he recalled. When asked what else he wanted, Dodik said he replied: “Get rid of this Schmidt”. Asked whether the Americans had acted on his request, Dodik initially said: “Well, I don’t know if they listen to me, but in any case – he’s gone now”.
He subsequently qualified his answer, saying he did not think US officials had listened to him directly, but that “circumstances were created”.
Dodik also alleged that Schmidt had been told during a visit to the United States that his work was finished and that he should return to Germany. He did not identify the officials allegedly involved or provide evidence for this account during the exchange.
The US Treasury Department removed Dodik, members of his family, political associates and related companies from its sanctions list on 29 October 2025. Dodik had first been sanctioned in 2017 for obstructing the Dayton Peace Agreement, with additional sanctions imposed in 2022 over corruption and actions undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s institutions.
The decision followed moves by the Republika Srpska National Assembly to appoint an interim president after Dodik’s removal from office and repeal a series of laws challenging state institutions. The US State Department welcomed those steps as contributing to de-escalation, while OFAC’s announcement did not explain the reasons for lifting the sanctions.
Schmidt announced his resignation in May 2026, initially describing it as a personal decision. Later that month, he told the German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine that he had faced substantial and unexpected US pressure to leave earlier than planned, Reuters reported in June. That account establishes a broader context of US pressure, but does not independently substantiate Dodik’s claim that Schmidt’s departure was negotiated as part of the sanctions talks.
