According to the Republika Srpska entity President, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is interfering in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the RS under the guise of the fight against corruption and that it is time to finally stand up to this.

Commenting on Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers’ agreement with USAID on the distribution of USD 8 million (around EUR 6.9 million) intended for various projects, Dodik said this could not have happened before.

“USAID was allowed to donate funds to the ‘joint’ institutions and they would be implemented according to the RS and Bosnian laws. They are interfering in our affairs on the basis of a plan conceived by the US Embassy with the aim of bypassing the procedures,” Dodik said. “The funds are given to hidden institutions and bodies, which is an interference in internal affairs, regardless of the fact that they have an apparent approval for this.”

He noted that these funds and information “came out of nowhere” and that RS institutions were never informed of them.

“Our investigation will deal with those who are receiving these funds and the ways in which they’re spending them,” Dodik pointed out.

“The consumers of these funds have been excluded which means they’re working according to their (USAID's) rules. It’s a direct interference into the system of government of another state. We will reach every recipient of these funds in the RS,” he said. “Most of these projects end up in the pockets of those who don’t pay any taxes. This is a hidden activity of the US Embassy and USAID. We know the way they’re doing this.”

He confirmed that the RS knows the recipients of the US Embassy’s support, that they have all been recorded and that the RS institutions willcontinue to monitor them.

“It’s time we stand up to this. No money can be spent in the US without its previous registration with the Justice Department. Why would their practice be any different than ours?,” Dodik asked.