{"id":10852,"date":"2025-02-20T13:28:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T12:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=10852"},"modified":"2025-04-04T19:36:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T18:36:26","slug":"bias-in-rtrs-who-are-the-usaid-mercenaries-in-republika-srpska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/bias-in-rtrs-who-are-the-usaid-mercenaries-in-republika-srpska\/","title":{"rendered":"Bias in RTRS: Who Are the Usaid \u201cMercenaries\u201d in Republika Srpska?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Original article<\/a> (in Bosnian) was published on 18\/2\/2024; Author: Nerma \u0160ehovi\u0107<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A report tailored to the ruling party in Republika Srpska was broadcasted in the RTRS (Radio television of Republika Srpska) News, in which users of USAID funds were labelled as foreign mercenaries, and the \u201cforeign agents law\u201d was presented as a necessary measure for regulating civil society. However, the facts about the funds the authorities in RS received from USAID were left out.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his first day in office (January 20, 2025), U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order<\/a> halting U.S. foreign aid for 90 days in order to conduct an evaluation and align the aid with the policies of his administration. This order negatively affected<\/a> numerous recipients of U.S. aid, which is mostly distributed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Among them are governments, media, and humanitarian organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s actions were enthusiastically welcomed by certain political figures, media outlets, and organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region (1<\/a>, 2<\/a>). One of the most vocal supporters in recent weeks has been the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, who called USAID a \u201ccriminal organization\u201d, labelled organizations and individuals receiving funds from this agency as \u201cmercenaries\u201d and \u201cforeign agents\u201d, and announced an investigation into its activities in this entity (link<\/a>). He also announced plans to pass a law for a special registry and public work of non-profit organizations<\/a>, colloquially known as the \u201cforeign agents law\u201d. His claims were covered by our partner fact-checking platform Istinomjer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dodik\u2019s views were quickly supported by some media outlets in Republika Srpska. On February 9, 2025<\/a>, a report about USAID was aired on the news program of the Radio-Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS). In addition to Dodik\u2019s statements about the \u201ccriminality\u201d of USAID and aid recipients as \u201cmercenaries\u201d, the report claimed that \u201cexpert public opinion\u201d states that the adoption of the \u201cforeign agents law\u201d is necessary to \u201cregulate the non-governmental sector, which sometimes works to overthrow legitimately elected governments\u201d and to \u201cprotect identity\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report quoted Radovan Kovacevic, a delegate in the Serb Club in the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who said that USAID had invested nearly a billion marks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which \u201cbest illustrates how strong and powerful the impact on Republika Srpska has been\u201d. The report also cited \u201cestimates\u201d by academic Kosta Cavoski regarding the direction of USAID funds in Bosnia and Herzegovina:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In my opinion, all that massive American aid that came to Bosnia and Herzegovina went to both the Muslims and Croats, but I assume mostly to the Serbian opposition that is against Dodik, so, in Banja Luka and others who are in dire need of money, and that is financed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The RTRS report mentioned that the \u201cforeign agents law\u201d, which the RS government plans to pass, is already in effect in several countries, including the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, in the report from Dnevnik 2, USAID is presented as a criminal organization, the recipients of the agency\u2019s funds as \u201cmercenaries\u201d, and the \u201cforeign agents act\u201d as a useful and necessary measure for regulating the non-governmental sector in Republika Srpska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claims from the report were also recounted in an article<\/a> published on the same day on the RTRS website. The article was reposted by the website Princip News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is USAID and what has it financed in Bosnia and Herzegovina?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)<\/a> is a U.S. government agency responsible for providing assistance to countries recovering from disaster, fighting poverty, or implementing democratic reforms. It was established by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USAID has been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1995<\/a>. This American agency invested significant funds into the reconstruction of infrastructure and the economy in the post-war years. In the first ten years after the war, which lasted from 1992 to 1995, USAID financed the reconstruction of war-damaged roads, bridges, factories, hospitals, schools, and water supply systems. They also provided funds for the rebuilding or starting of businesses, as well as for the return of displaced persons to their pre-war homes. Since then, USAID has continued its operations in BiH through financing projects in entrepreneurship, tourism, independent media, social assistance, developing democracy, and social reintegration (link<\/a>, link<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although much of the public discourse in recent weeks has focused on the funds USAID provided to non-governmental organizations, they are not the only recipients of their aid. A significant portion of the funds that USAID invested in BiH between 1995 and 2020 – 620 million out of 1.9 billion – went to the authorities in Republika Srpska<\/a>. This accounts for 32% of the total aid that USAID provided to Bosnia and Herzegovina from the war to 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These funds financed<\/a> projects such as the creation of a tax and non-tax payment registry, systems for control and collection of contributions, a registry of inspection procedures, improvements in the treasury system for healthcare institutions, and similar projects in Republika Srpska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly one-third of USAID\u2019s funds in BiH, which were received by the government of Republika Srpska, are not mentioned in the RTRS report on the \u201ccriminal organization\u201d and \u201cforeign mercenaries\u201d, although it is a well-known fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to the criticisms from 2025, Dodik publicly thanked USAID<\/a> in 2022 for their help in developing Republika Srpska:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We remain dedicated to cooperating with the USAID staff and remain committed to projects that we will jointly select or jointly design within the scope of what local communities are interested in, including Republika Srpska as a whole, and I, of course, support all those projects at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina (\u2026)<\/em>
I am very pleased to have noticed that in the plans of Ms. Power [Samantha Power, USAID Administrator], there is no distinction between Republika Srpska and the Federation, that she will continue to support projects in Republika Srpska, which was important for us to evaluate that part of the meeting, related to USAID, as positive.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We were unable to find data on whether USAID ever (and if so, to what extent) directly financed opposition parties in Republika Srpska (1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 4<\/a>).  In any case, they could hardly have \u201coutdone\u201d the institutions of this entity in terms of the percentage and amount of USAID funds allocated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Namely, data on the expenditure of U.S. funds for foreign aid has been available for years on the U.S. government-run website Foreign Assistance<\/a>. From this website, it is possible to \u201cdownload\u201d data related to specific countries, and information on U.S. funds spent in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be found at this link<\/a>. In this database, one can see whether the funds were allocated to the government, NGOs, religious groups, universities, or companies, the amount of funds, and the project for which the funds were allocated. These are not just USAID funds, but all U.S. government funds. In the section for \u201cproject implementation partners\u201d, companies and the government dominate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This data was analyzed<\/a> by our partner website, Istinomjer, in an analysis published on February 14, 2025, concluding that the claim that USAID invested nearly a billion marks, or 402 million dollars, in the last four years is inaccurate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The accurate information is that 402,179,947 dollars were directed to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This amount, aside from USAID funds, includes funds from other U.S. institutions, so of these 402 million dollars, 195 million came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and the Department of the Army.<\/em>
When these 402 million dollars are allocated to all these institutions, USAID\u2019s share amounts to 207.3 million dollars.<\/em>
Finally, when administrative costs (salaries, contributions, utilities, rents, etc.) are subtracted from the total amount, approximately 343.4 million dollars in U.S. government funds reached Bosnia and Herzegovina during the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, with USAID accounting for 159.5 million dollars.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Thus, USAID has invested 159.5 million dollars in BiH since 2020, with part of the funds going to the authorities, some to companies, NGOs, and other categories. Claims about a billion marks for destroying Republika Srpska and making huge payments to opposition parties in this entity are absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the facts about the \u201cForeign Agents Act\u201d? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government of Republika Srpska adopted the Draft Law on the Special Register and Public Work of Non-Profit Organizations in March 2023<\/a>. This law<\/a> would define all NGOs registered in RS that receive any financial assistance from foreign sources as \u201cforeign agents\u201d, subject them to special supervision, and require them to submit special financial reports twice a year. It would also allow anyone to request an inspection of their finances, and there was even a possibility of banning their operation under circumstances already defined by the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft was withdrawn<\/a> from the procedure in the National Assembly of RS in May 2024. Dodik <\/a>stated that the reason for this was public objections and the need to align the law with \u201cEuropean legal practice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, after Trump\u2019s inauguration and the freezing of USAID funds, the authorities in RS returned the law to the agenda. The RS government approved the draft law on February 6<\/a>. RS Justice Minister Milos Bukejlovic said that the harshest measure envisaged by the law would be the \u201cshutdown of a non-governmental organization\u201d, while Dodik announced that \u201cthe status of foreign agents will be established for all those who receive money from foreign governments to undermine RS\u201d, as stated in the article<\/a> published on the Radio Free Europe website on February 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RTRS report falsely claims that such a \u201cForeign Agents Act\u201d is already in effect in the United States. This claim has been made in previous years when the RS authorities attempted to pass the law. Moreover, the law was often described as \u201cAmerican\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As explained by Raskrinkavanje in an analysis<\/a> from April 2023, there are no legal provisions in the U.S. that restrict the operations of NGOs in the way envisioned by the \u201cForeign Agents Act\u201d proposed by Dodik. When such comparisons are made with the U.S., they refer to the U.S. FARA law (Foreign Agents Registration Act<\/a>), which has nothing to do with non-governmental organizations. This law, adopted in 1938, applies to individuals and entities operating in the country on behalf of a \u201cforeign principal\u201d and advocating for their interests, not NGOs receiving foreign funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, unlike the law being proposed in RS, this U.S. law does not apply to all non-profit organizations receiving foreign funds. As explained in Raskrinkavanje\u2019s analysis, \u201cThe FARA law does not contain the mechanisms envisaged in the Draft Law on the Special Register and Public Work of Non-Profit Organizations, such as regular annual inspections for organizations with foreign donors\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law being proposed in RS is much more similar to Russia\u2019s \u201cForeign Agents Law\u201d. As explained in Raskrinkavanje\u2019s analysis<\/a> published on August 26, 2024, Russia adopted a law in 2012 regulating the activities of non-profit organizations acting as foreign agents<\/a>. According to this law, all NGOs receiving financial aid from abroad had to register as \u201cforeign agents\u201d and display this label on all their public communications. The analysis by Raskrinkavanje states the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past 12 years, the law has undergone <\/em>several amendments<\/em><\/a>, each time with more repressive measures <\/em>(<\/em>1<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>2<\/em><\/a>)<\/em>. The amendments in 2017 allowed media to be recognized as foreign agents; in 2019, the natural entity could also be classified in this way; in 2022, anyone \u201cwho is under any foreign influence\u201d could be declared a foreign agent, and in 2024, such individuals were prohibited from <\/em>participating in elections<\/em><\/a>. Inspections that made it harder for targeted organizations to operate, fines for associations that refused to register as \u201cforeign agents\u201d, and other mechanisms established by this law led to the closure or \u201cemigration\u201d of a large number of organizations, particularly those engaged in monitoring corruption and advocating for the respect of human rights.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The article<\/a> by the International Press Institute, published in July 2022, states that over time, the concept of \u201cforeign funding\u201d that would label someone a \u201cforeign agent\u201d includes attending an international conference organized by a foreign organization or even receiving money from family and friends abroad. These measures led to the closure or \u201cemigration\u201d of many organizations, especially those dealing with corruption monitoring and advocating for human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to claiming that the same law exists in the U.S. the RTRS report manipulatively claimed that the \u201cprofessional public\u201d supports the adoption of the \u201cForeign Agents Act\u201d in RS as something positive and necessary, presenting statements from public officials Ljubisa Malenica and Lazar Stjepanovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority opinion of the professional public was clear even last year when numerous activists, lawyers, and professors expressed opposition<\/a> to the adoption of this law, emphasizing its repressive potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, instead of objective, truthful, and politically impartial reporting, the public service RTRS has resorted to propaganda and misleading the public in favor of the ruling party in Republika Srpska and their interests. Based on the facts, the claims that the \u201cForeign Agents Law\u201d in RS is the same as the law in the USA, and that \u201cthe expert public\u201d believes its adoption is necessary, are assessed as manipulation of facts<\/strong>. We give the same assessment to the claim that most USAID aid has gone to opposition parties in RS.
The RTRS report is also assessed as biased reporting<\/strong> because it omitted information that the government in Republika Srpska has used significant USAID funds and missed the opportunity to confront its current criticisms with previous positive evaluations of USAID\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 18\/2\/2024; Author: Nerma \u0160ehovi\u0107 A report tailored to the ruling party in Republika Srpska was broadcasted in the RTRS (Radio television of Republika Srpska) News, in which users of USAID funds were labelled as foreign mercenaries, and the \u201cforeign agents law\u201d was presented as a necessary measure for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10852"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10907,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10852\/revisions\/10907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}