In the middle of the US-Israel war against the terrorist regime in Tehran, a small, well-intentioned but misinformed group of congressional leaders is unwittingly facilitating the spread of Iranian and radical Islamist influence in the very underbelly of Europe.
In their March 27, 2026 letter to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), as well as Representatives Mike Turner (R-OH) and Ann Wagner (R-MO), are pressing the Trump administration to reimpose sanctions on former President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik, whom the State Department delisted from its sanctions list just a few months ago.
The signatories unfairly accuse Dodik and his associates of using “secessionist rhetoric” and “undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement.” Paradoxically, this untimely initiative is targeting the last Christian outpost in the heart of Europe and opening the doors wider for Bosniak (Muslim) political dominance in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as advancing neo-Ottoman and Iranian influence deep inside the continent.
In the wake of the Yugoslavian civil war, the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) left the country divided into two entities: the predominantly Muslim (with a Croat minority) Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska. For thirty years, while the US has treated Bosnia as one of its nation-building projects, Europe has transformed Bosnia into its last colony.
The Trump Administration properly reversed three decades of pro-Bosniak (read: pro-Muslim) US policy by removing the Biden Administration’s draconian sanctions against Dodik, his family, and a host of other patriotic RS officials and ordinary citizens, while creating a fair and even playing field in BiH. If adopted, the Grassley-Shaheen Letter would throw Bosnia back to the turbulent 90s, precisely at a time when America and Israel are striving to end Islamist radicalism in the Middle East.
What the Letter’s signatories fail to realize is that the Muslim-Bosniak officials – with the connivance of the autocratic, anti-democratic Office of the High Representative (OHR) – have systematically eroded the autonomy of Bosnia’s ethnic communities guaranteed by the DPA.
They have done so by transferring key competencies such as control over natural resources, including rare earth deposits, from the constituent entities to the central, Muslim-controlled state. Just this week, a Sarajevo court dealt a blow to the DPM by confirming the transfer of local control over the police to a central, national authority. This discrimination against BiH’s Christian Serbs fosters ethnic divisions and sectarian conflict throughout Bosnia and the Balkans.
This troubling trend was exemplified last week when Bosniak leaders staged a “high-profile” Congressional Passover Seder in Washington, presenting it as a bridge for peace and interfaith dialogue through showcasing the Jewish community’s Sarajevo Haggadah. Significantly, the Sarajevo National Museum, the current custodian of the medieval Haggadah, criticized the politicization of the Haggadah, expressing surprise that it was never consulted about the pre-Passover event.
‘Serious threat of religious fanaticism and Zionism’
The true face of Bosnian attitudes toward Jews and Israel was revealed by Bosnian Grand Mufti Husein Kavazović, who, the day after the Seder, flagged the “serious threat of religious fanaticism and Zionism” that he claimed “destroys worlds, cultures, and civilizations.” This was not an isolated incident.
In June 2025, Kavazović branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government a “criminal regime.” Two years earlier, he praised Turkey as Bosnia’s closest ally, citing shared Ottoman heritage and ongoing support from Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs, utterly ignoring the Christian Serb population and cultural heritage.
Turkey, which for years served as the operational base for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in Europe and the Middle East, has been extending its influence beyond cultural and religious ties. The growing defense cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina predominantly benefits the Muslim entity.
Under the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan signed in Sarajevo on June 4, 2025, Turkey has supplied Bosniaks with armored vehicles, Bayraktar TB2 drones, training, and other military hardware that are all directed toward bolstering the Muslim Federation’s military units.
By contrast, Republika Srpska and its leadership under Milorad Dodik have consistently stood as allies of Israel and the US during President Donald Trump’s era. While Sarajevo celebrated and displayed Palestinian flags following the horrific October 7 attacks, Banja Luka, the Srpska capital, illuminated its Presidential Palace with Israeli flag colors as a gesture of solidarity.
In the first and second Iranian wars, Dodik and other RS leaders were among the first in Europe to unequivocally affirm Israel’s right to self-defense, expressing full support for joint Israel-US operations against Iran and its proxies. Ultimately, it is the Serbs in Banja Luka who are manning the barricades against spreading neo-Ottoman influence and Iranian soft power in Central Europe and defending Western civilization.
In sum, lopsided congressional pressure on one Bosnian ethnic entity while indulging the other only strengthens radical Islam at a time when the West and even moderate Muslim states are seeking to restore a modicum of normalcy in a fractured world. Sanctioning Dodik and the RS will not bring about stability and prosperity in Central Europe. The Trump Administration should reject the regressive Grassley-Sheehan appeal.
Marc Zell is an international attorney practicing in Washington, DC, and Jerusalem. He is the Chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel and Vice President of Republicans Overseas, Inc. He is also a paid lobbyist of Republika Srpska.
Dana Levinson is a political analyst and Middle East researcher focusing on Iran, its nuclear program, regional security, and geopolitical influence.
Source:
www.jpost.com
