Dodik uses Trump's decision to suspend financial support to foreign organisations as an argument.

foto: Pixabay

Translation: Tijana Dmitrović

At the end of January, the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, re-announced adopting the Law on the Special Registry and Transparency of the Work of Nonprofit Organisations. He also said that the law would be returned to the procedure in May last year when the RS Government withdrew the proposal for this law from the session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS) without explanation. Numerous local and international organisations assessed that this legal solution is an attack on civil society and freedom of speech.

“I will circle back to one of the stories I proposed earlier. Republika Srpska, guided by the practices of large developed countries, will compile its own list of enemies of Republika Srpska and publish it. By the way, let me tell you that the law on non-governmental organisations will be adopted in March at the latest,” said Dodik.

He announced the plan in late January at a press conference dedicated to economic topics. At the conference, he repeatedly stated that he would not comment on political events, and no questions were allowed.

Dodik linked his initiative for this law to US President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend all federal aid programs for 90 days in order to conduct a review. American aid programs fund numerous civil society projects and media worldwide, including in BiH.

“Now we can see how right we were when we proposed the law on non-governmental organisations a year and a half ago, to bring order to all that. Now they have come to the position of getting no money from America. This shows that we were feeling the pulse of what is now official American policy. For this reason, we will return the law on non-governmental organisations and establish the status of foreign agents for all those who receive money from foreign governments to undermine Republika Srpska here," said Dodik. He announced that the draft law would be adopted at the next session of the RS National Assembly.

Almost simultaneously with Dodik’s press conference, Alternativna Televizija from Banja Luka triumphantly published an article on its website and later a story in the central news program “Americans suspend funding: Which media outlets in Republika Srpska found themselves among the in a pickle”.

The article states, among other things, that the US president's decision has affected numerous non-governmental and media organisations in BiH and that the US payroll includes organisations and media outlets responsible for undermining Republika Srpska.

As a reminder, Alternativna Televizija has been under US sanctions for several years due to its ties to the ruling SNSD and Milorad Dodik.

Non-profit organisations as agents of foreign influence

Meanwhile, the RS Government published the Draft Law on the Special Register and Transparency of the Work of Non-profit Organisations without explaining whether it passed the adoption procedures at the Government session, given that it was not announced in the agenda items.

The content is almost identical to the previous law, also with 20 points, which stipulates that any non-profit organisation that is financially or otherwise supported by foreign entities, and that engages in political action or political activities, will be granted the status of an agent of foreign influence.

This law also stipulates that non-profit organisations must report received financial resources to the RS Ministry of Justice within 15 days, and any changes in their activities within 30 days. Data from the register will be submitted to the Ministry of Interior, prosecutors' offices and the competent committee of the RS National Assembly upon request.

Also, non-profit organisations that are included in the aforementioned register and that distribute materials via electronic media, information, and telecommunications networks must be designated as a non-profit organisation.

The legality of their work will be inspected regularly once a year, and unscheduled supervision will be conducted based on reports from citizens and the authorities of Republika Srpska.

If any irregularities are detected, fines of BAM 1,000-5,000 are foreseen. The RS Ministry of Justice will also submit a proposal to the competent court for a work ban and file criminal charges against the responsible persons.

Representatives of the non-governmental sector see the authorities' new initiative in Republika Srpska as political intimidation, which will target certain non-governmental organisations.

“It is normal for all laws to be applied selectively in our country, so this one will apply to some and not others. And here we already have the targeting of certain non-governmental organisations in certain media outlets close to the ruling regime,” says Aleksandar Žolja, president of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly in Banja Luka.

He adds that the speed with which the draft law was published shows that the government “has no time to waste in adopting some amendments and listening to some criticism.”

He also believes that organisations protecting human rights, fighting corruption, media organisations, and individual independent intellectuals—i.e., the loudest critics of the current state of society—will be most affected.

Additional pressure on media organisations

Independent investigative media outlet SPIN.info from East Sarajevo is already under pressure from SLAPP lawsuits.

The portal's editor, Sanja Vasković, says that the adoption of the so-called NGO law will further pressure media organisations.

“The very colloquial name ‘foreign agents’ law’ sounds vulgar and the government presents all those who receive money from abroad as enemies of the state. If this rhetoric spreads among ‘ordinary citizens’, we may have additional problems, given that the officials we write about often say ‘we work for the opposition’, ‘engage in sensationalism’... A classic discrediting of those who, I won't say criticise but dare to ask something that those in power don't like,” notes Vasković.

According to her, the adoption of this legal framework will also affect the physical safety of journalists and representatives of the civil sector, especially since an atmosphere has been created in which the attitude that dissenting views can be attacked has been normalised.

“The actors in our stories have tried pressuring us in various ways to get us to stop writing about them, from SLAPP lawsuits, reporting us to the police, evicting us from our premises, checking our bank accounts and the like, and I fear that this would only give them additional motivation to try to silence the only investigative media outlet in this part of Republika Srpska. I believe that other organisations will have similar problems if their struggle and the activities they do are characterised as someone being paid from abroad to overthrow someone,” says Vasković. 

Instead of strengthening the civil sector, she says this will have the effect of suppressing freedom of speech.

During previous attempts to adopt this law, representatives of the institutions of Republika Srpska faced condemnation and criticism.

Diplomatic missions in BiH and international organisations have called for the withdrawal of the aforementioned law, stating that it violates democratic values ​​and is contrary to BiH's European perspective.

“The European Union is founded on the values of respect for human rights, freedom, democracy and the rule of law. These are protected by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as of Republika Srpska and other legislation. This draft law directly contradicts the repeated commitments of the Republika Srpska leadership to advance European integration and specifically key priority 11 on civil society and key priority 12 on freedom of expression and of the media,” the European Union Delegation to BiH stated in a response from September 2023.

Although representatives of the Republika Srpska Government have repeatedly emphasised that this is a solution that also exists in the United States, an analysis by Radio Free Europe showed that the law was drafted based on the Russian model.

“The existing law already regulates the work of NGOs, as well as many other things. Even the submission of financial reports to the competent authorities. This law is unnecessary and dangerous because it is clearly a political tool,” believes PDP MP in the RS National Assembly Tanja Vukomanović.

According to her, targeting persons as enemies of the state can cause violent actions by individuals.

She also notes that the institutions of Republika Srpska receive large grants and donations from abroad and that in that case, foreign money is not a hindrance to the authorities. Therefore, she says, the intention of the law is clear – to suppress any form of criticism and stop the discussion of topics that do not suit the Government of Republika Srpska, which often include crime, corruption, public procurement and human rights.

“I am always in favour of transparent work and accountability, but everyone has to do that. The government can’t lead us in BAM 20 million of debt and refuse to say where the money went, while some organisation is the enemy because it has a project supported by an organisation from abroad,” she says.

Although Milorad Dodik expressed his belief that this item could be included in the next session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, there has been no reaction from the international community so far.

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