Rod Blagojevich, who was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in February this year, has agreed to work as a lobbyist for Republika Srpska, an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We will provide support in communication and public affairs on behalf of Republika Srpska,” stated RRB Strategies, Blagojevich’s firm, in a registration filing required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a unique political entity due to the Dayton Agreement of 1995. Speaking to Politico, Blagojevich expressed his hope that he can “use all his abilities to convince decision-makers to reconsider the Dayton Agreement and align it with today’s realities.”
As he begins this new role, Blagojevich is presenting himself as part of a broader movement of populist leaders who have been targeted by “nonpartisan bureaucrats who have exceeded their constitutional power”, drawing comparisons between himself, Trump, and Marine Le Pen in France.
“I believe that the political weaponization we now see from the European Union against certain populist political leaders they dislike actually began with me, as a left-of-center Democratic governor of Illinois,” Blagojevich said, adding:
“I just know this to be true. And then they took it to the next level and applied it to President Trump.”
Dodik has long advocated for the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina and its unification with Serbia. In February, he was sentenced to one year in prison for violating decisions of the country’s Constitutional Court.
In March, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned Dodik’s actions, stating on X (formerly Twitter) that he was undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s institutions and jeopardizing its security and stability.
Blagojevich was pardoned by Trump in February after being convicted in 2011 for extortion and attempting to sell or trade the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. He and Trump first met through the reality TV show “The Celebrity Apprentice.” In 2020, Trump commuted Blagojevich’s sentence.
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Trump had considered appointing Blagojevich as U.S. ambassador to Serbia before ultimately selecting former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich for the position.
Blagojevich, whose parents were of Serbian origin (his father from a village near Kragujevac and his mother from a village in Herzegovina), emphasized his extensive experience working with Balkan politicians. As a Democratic congressman in 1999, he traveled to Belgrade with Baptist minister Jesse Jackson during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia to negotiate the release of three American prisoners of war.
“I believe that the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska can be bastions of Judeo-Christian values in the Balkans, just as Israel is in the Middle East. I would love to play a role in that, and I am happy to have been brought in and engaged to do exactly that,” Blagojevich stated.
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Source: Telegraf, Foto: Tanjug