Milorad Dodik is not a U.S. partner

OPINION:

Rod Blagojevich’s recent op-ed, “Iran’s Islamic revolution is alive and well in the heart of the Balkans” (Web, July 7) is deeply misleading and inflammatory.

Mr. Blagojevich, a former governor of Illinois and a convicted felon, is currently a paid lobbyist for the government of Republika Srpska, an entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina led by Milorad Dodik. Mr. Dodik is the main pro-Russian proxy and key ally of Vladimir Putin in the Balkans. He is under U.S. sanctions for anti-Dayton Peace Agreement and anti-constitutional actions that pose the most immediate threat to the stability of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the broader region. He has also been sanctioned by Britain, Austria, Germany and Lithuania.

Mr. Blagojevich’s malicious, biased and tendentious claims regarding Bosnia-Herzegovina’s alleged alignment with Iran, Hezbollah and other extremist actors are not only entirely unfounded but are also outright fabrications designed to mislead and inflame. As Baroness Arminka Helic, a distinguished member of the British House of Lords, rightly observed, this narrative represents a calculated disinformation campaign crafted to provoke fear-based policy reactions in Washington.

The unmistakable objective is to derail Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory by deliberately reframing the country from a reliable regional partner into a security threat to the United States. This campaign of distortion serves the interests of Moscow and its allies in the Republika Srpska, not those of Washington.

The timing of the op-ed’s publication is particularly shameful. It was published during the solemn commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, the worst atrocity on European soil since the Holocaust. In July 1995, more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were systematically killed by units of the army of Republika Srpska, the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska and Serbian paramilitary groups, such as the Scorpions. These acts have been legally recognized as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.

Furthermore, on May 23, 2024, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 78/282, officially designating July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide.

Those for whom Mr. Blagojevich now lobbies, including Mr. Dodik, actively deny this genocide, glorify its perpetrators and seek to dismantle the very constitutional order established by the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Mr. Dodik’s policies are in direct conflict with the strategic goals of the United States. His push for the de facto secession of Republika Srpska is not an “internal matter”; it is a geopolitical fault line that risks triggering broader destabilization in Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia while inviting deeper Russian and Chinese influence into Southeast Europe.

Supporting or amplifying Mr. Dodik’s agenda, intentionally or otherwise, is tantamount to undermining American leadership and influence in the Western Balkans.

President Trump and prior U.S. administrations have stood for state sovereignty, regional stability and partnerships grounded in shared democratic values. Mr. Dodik is not and never will be a partner for the United States. He is a tool and a pawn of Mr. Putin’s foreign agenda, wrapped in dangerous nationalist rhetoric.

His policies are actively opening space for Russian and Chinese influence in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the wider Western Balkans.

Mr. Dodik is increasingly aligning with Moscow and Beijing, leveraging economic partnerships and political backing to systematically erode Western influence in the region. The Trump administration has been unequivocal in its position: American strategic interests must not be undermined by hostile geopolitical projects driven by Russia and China.

Supporting or tolerating Mr. Dodik’s agenda would run directly counter to those interests.

Bosnia-Herzegovina is a sovereign, multiethnic, democratic state committed to Euro-Atlantic integration and partnership with the United States. Op-eds such as Mr. Blagojevich’s attempt to revise historical facts, erase established truths and replace them with divisive propaganda aimed at destabilizing the Western Balkans and trans-Atlantic cooperation.

We categorically reject the baseless, Islamophobic and politically motivated assertions contained in the piece. The op-ed is not a legitimate policy critique; it is a coordinated disinformation effort that distorts the geopolitical realities of the Western Balkans and deliberately maligns Bosnia-Herzegovina’s international standing.

• Sven Alkalaj is the ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina to the United States.