Trump’s Bosnia Power Play Puts an Opaque Energy Deal at the Center

Behind the project is AAFS Infrastructure and Energy LLC, a firm incorporated in Wyoming in late 2025. The company emerged only after U.S. officials began pushing for a new model to develop the Southern Interconnection gas pipeline. AAFS boasts no prior experience in energy infrastructure, yet it has been positioned to control the project without a public tender. Its ownership includes Jesse Binnall, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, and Joe Flynn, the brother of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. They have partnered with Sarajevo-based lobbyist Amer Bekan, a figure previously accused of selling political influence.

The strategy relies on neutralizing the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the international body tasked with upholding the 1995 Dayton peace agreement. After forcing Christian Schmidt to resign in May 2026, Washington attempted to install Italian diplomat Antonio Zanardi Landi as his successor. The goal is to resolve the country’s unresolved state-property dispute—a legal hurdle blocking the pipeline route—by granting concessions to Dodik’s Republika Srpska. While the U.S. frames the pipeline as a move to reduce European reliance on Russian gas, the arrangement has emboldened Dodik to continue his own pursuit of Russian energy ties, leaving the region’s stability increasingly precarious as European allies resist the American-led push for control over the OHR.