The US Treasury Department today lifted the sanctions that had been imposed on the nationalist leader of Milorad Dodik, his allies, family members, and companies associated with him, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced.

OFAC did not explain why it eased sanctions against dozens of Dodik’s close associates, including ministers, as well as his son and daughter. Serb officials said they were working in secret to establish a “new relationship” with Washington.

Dodik is the former president of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia. In August, he was deposed by a court order and banned from involvement in the country’s political scene. He was sanctioned by the US in 2017 for defying the Dayton Peace Treaty, which ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and did not disband the country. The pro-Russian nationalist Dodik had advocated the secession of the Serb Republic and refused to resign from the presidency.

On 18 October, Serb MPs elected a transitional president, officially admitting for the first time that Dodik no longer had a role after the court ruling against him. The interim president, who is an ally, will hold those posts until early elections are held on 23 November.

Parliament also annulled some autonomy laws passed last year after Dodik was prosecuted for defying the decisions of the international special envoy for Bosnia and the Constitutional Court.

The State Department welcomed the lifting of sanctions, noting that it was the result of US efforts “to de-escalate the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”