‘Europe is a bit of a mess’, Donald Trump Jr tells panel in Bosnia
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Mr Donald Trump Jr travelled to the Serb Republic’s de facto capital, Banja Luka, as the guest of ousted pro-Russian leader Milorad Dodik's son Igor.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia and Herzegovina – US President Donald Trump’s eldest son visited Bosnia’s Serb Republic on April 7, a trip widely seen as a gesture of support for its ousted pro-Russian leader Milorad Dodik, during which he criticised the European Union as “a little bit of a mess”.
Mr Donald Trump Jr travelled to the Serb Republic’s de facto capital, Banja Luka, as the guest of Mr Dodik’s son Igor. The visit coincided with remarks by US Vice-President J.D. Vance in Budapest, where he accused the European Union of meddling in an election in Hungary.
“The European Union has been a little bit of a mess,” Mr Trump Jr said during a closed panel discussion with region’s political leaders and business figures. He added that he had heard from business people around the world who described Europe as “a disaster”.
“But it’s a disaster they feel also needs to be fixed because of the impact that it does have on the values and Western civilisation,” said Mr Trump Jr, who is executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, which he runs alongside his younger brother Eric.
The Serb Republic is one of two autonomous regions that make up Bosnia, alongside the Bosniak-Croat Federation, under the 1995 Dayton peace accords brokered by the US to end the 1992-1995 war that killed about 100,000 people and displaced some 2 million.
The panel event was open only to government-aligned media outlets but a video was broadcast on regional television.
Mr Dodik, the region’s former separatist president, was stripped of his mandate in August 2025 over a court verdict banning him from politics and had been under US sanctions for flouting the Dayton peace treaty. He has become a strong supporter of policies of Mr Donald Trump after he took power in 2025.
“The arrival of Vance in Hungary and Donald Trump Jr in Banja Luka is a signal of an important shift in the US administration under President Trump, showing concern for this part of Europe,” Mr Dodik posted on X.
Last October, the US Treasury Department lifted sanctions imposed on Mr Dodik and his allies and family members without publicly explaining the decision.
Serb officials have since said they have been working quietly to improve relations with Washington, while maintaining close ties with traditional ally Russia. REUTERS
