Rod Blagojevich has a brand new job: representing the pursuits of an ultranationalist politician referred to as the “Bosnian Bear” who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The previous Illinois governor, who was pardoned in February by President Donald Trump, has agreed to foyer on behalf of the Republic of Srpska, a Serb-majority territory in Bosnia and Herzegovina lengthy mired within the bitter ethnic tensions of the area.
RRB Methods, Blagojevich’s agency, “will provide communications and public affairs support on behalf of the Republic of Srpska,” in accordance with the registration assertion he was required to file below the International Brokers Registration Act.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is held collectively by the Dayton Accords, a 1995 settlement that ended the Bosnian Conflict and unified the nation. Blagojevich informed POLITICO on Wednesday that he hopes to “use whatever ability I have to persuade the decision-makers that we need to take another look at the Dayton Agreement and bring it in line with the realities of today.”
As he begins the position, Blagojevich is in search of to forged himself as one in a protracted line of populist leaders thwarted by “unelected bureaucrats who have exceeded their constitutional power,” from Trump to Marine Le Pen in France and Milorad Dodik, Srpska’s president
“I believe the weaponization that’s going on in Europe right now by the European Union against certain populist political leaders they don’t like started with me as a left of center Democratic governor in Illinois,” Blagojevich mentioned. “I just know this. And then they took it to the next level and did it to President Trump.”
Dodik has lengthy pushed for the Republic of Srpska, to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina and be part of close by Serbia. In February, he was sentenced to a yr in jail for defying the nation’s Constitutional Courtroom. Dubbed “the Bosnian Bear,” for his physique and crude antics, Dodik has since fled to Moscow.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March condemned Dodik for “undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s institutions and threatening its security and stability” in a publish on X.
Blagojevich was pardoned by Trump in February after being convicted in 2011 on fees of extortion and for making an attempt to promote or commerce the appointment of the Senate seat that had been held by Barack Obama. Acquainted from their days on The Celeb Apprentice, Trump commuted Blagojevich’s sentence in 2020.
Trump weighed tapping Blagojevich to function U.S. ambassador to Serbia earlier than selecting former Arizona Legal professional Common Mark Brnovich for the publish.
Blagojevich, whose mother and father have been Serbian, touted to POLITICO his lengthy expertise working in Balkan politics. As a Democratic Home consultant in 1999, he traveled to Belgrade with the Rev. Jesse Jackson to clinch a deal that freed three American prisoners of conflict.
“I believe the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska can be bastions of Judea-Christian values in the Balkans just like Israel is in the Middle East,” he mentioned. “And I’d like to be able to play a role in that and am fortunate to have been brought on and be hired to do just that.”
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