Ever since Donald Trump’s re-election to the US presidency, politicians from across Southeast Europe that have been put under US sanctions have stepped up their lobbying efforts. 

Individuals sanctioned for high-level corruption and/or ties to Russia are optimistic that Trump’s return to power meant a new US administration far more sympathetic towards their situations. 

Their hopes of securing a lifting of sanctions was further boosted when the US State Department confirmed earlier this week that Antal Rogan, a senior aide to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, had been removed from the Treasury's sanctions list. 

Right-winger Orban is one of the European leaders most ideologically akin to Trump.

The decision to list sanctions on Rogan was made just three months after he was blacklisted under the Global Magnitsky programme for his alleged central role in systemic corruption.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claimed the decision had been made in the final days of the Biden administration “out of pure spite”. 

After a conversation with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Szijjarto commented: ”A completely new era has started in Hungarian-US relations, characterised by friendship and full agreement on the main issues.”

Hungarian officials are not the only ones in the region hopeful of a reset under Trump. 

Shortly after sanctions on Rogan were lifted, the leader of Bulgaria’s ruling Gerb party, Boyko Borissov, said he was certain two Bulgarian politicians, Gerb’s Vladislav Goranov and DPS – New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski, would be removed from the list of people sanctioned under the Magnitsky act.

“A time will come for him [Peevski] and Goranov [for] the truth to come out as it did for Hungary,” Borissov told a press conference broadcast on his Facebook page.

Borissov said he does not know when the two politicians will be removed from the Magnitsky list but that “a process on this is ongoing”.

As reported by bne IntelliNews, it has become increasingly evident that Bulgaria’s government depends on support from Peevski as the coalition behind it fractures. Gerb is looking to include his DPS – New Beginning in the government, but faces a backlash from anti-corruption protesters. 

In Bosnia & Herzegovina, Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik has also stepped up his lobbying efforts in recent months. 

Dodik and his allies and family members have been sanctioned by the US for their “efforts to enrich themselves at the public’s expense” as well as “Dodik’s continued efforts to undermine the democratic and multiethnic framework that defines modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina”, a US Treasury statement said on January 17 – three days before Trump’s inauguration. 

The Treasury had previously targeted individuals and entities close to Dodik with sanctions on November 6 – the same day the politician wore a red MAGA cap to host a cocktail reception celebrating Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. 

In January, Republika Srpska signed a contract with Zell & Associates International Advocates LLC, to work for the lifting of sanctions on Dodik and his family.

Another lobbying contract for Dodik was signed at the end of March with Rod Blagojevic, director of the RRB Strategies companies. According to Capital.ba news outlet, the brief for Blagojevic’s company was to spread among US officials the story that sanctions against Dodik were politically motivated.

Capital.ba has since reported in April that Dodik has signed a third contract, this time with the lobbying company Stokes Strategies LLC, also to lobby for the lifting of Magnitsky sanctions on him.

Pressure on Dodik is increasing after he was issued a prison sentence at the end of February and is also the subject of a travel ban – which he has repeatedly defied. A Bosnian state court has urged Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for the controversial politician.  

Another politician believed to be hopeful of having US sanctions against him lifted was Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha. 

Berisha, a former president and prime minister, was sanctioned for “corrupt acts”, as announced by former US secretary of state Antony Blinker in May 2021. 

He claimed the sanctions were introduced following lobbying by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and billionaire philanthropist George Soros – a popular scapegoat for East European right-wing politicians. 

As reported by The New York Times, both Chris LaCivita, the co-manager of Trump’s re-election campaign, and Paul Manafort visited Albania in February, reportedly to help Berisha get the sanctions dropped. HuffPost reports that LaCivita’s team now includes Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio and Manafort associate Phil Griffin.

As for Dodik, Berisha’s campaign is under time pressure as he urgently needs the sanctions to be lifted before Albania’s May general election if he is to thwart a four consecutive victory for Rama’s Socialist Party.