In February 1993, Cikotić was made commander of operational group Zapad of the 3rd Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bugojno.

Cikotić was appointed Minister of Defence on 11 January 2007, but was unable to take up officially until 22 April 2007, when a ban on former army officers performing defence-related civilian duties expired.

[6] On 25 November 2021, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment against Cikotić for high corruption, regarding abuse of position and authority at the time when he was Defence Minister.

[7] The national Court confirmed the indictment against Cikotić on 8 December 2021, accusing him of abusing his position as Defence Minister from 2009 until 2011, which damaged the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina by 9.7 million KM and obtained multimillion-dollar property gain for others.

[9] Cikotić was succeeded as Minister of Security by Nenad Nešić on 25 January 2023, following the formation of a new government presided over by Borjana Krišto.