The Think Progress' investigative journalist Casey Michael tweeted a link to the contract between the Texas-based McGinnis Lochridge law firm and the government of Bosnia's Serb-dominated part of Republika Srpska (RS) on legal advice to this semi-autonomous entity.
In the contract, the law firm said they would provide legal advice, “represent Republika Srpska and work with its designated representatives to provide general advice and representation regarding international legal and policy matters as requested by the Government from time to time.”
They will advise the RS on its legal rights and obligations under applicable international law including the Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the war in Bosnia, and other international agreements to which Bosnia is a party.
McGinnis Lochridge will also advise the Serb-dominated entity on its obligations vis-a-vis the Office of High Representative (OHR) which oversees the civilian implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement; the Peace Implementation Council as the international body charged with implementing the Dayton Agreement, the UN Security Council, the OSCE, the EU, the Council of Europe, and relations with the international community.
Here's the website Republika Srpska's new lobbying partner created: https://t.co/9MpltPLi9r Features this headline about Dodik, who's currently sanctioned by the U.S. pic.twitter.com/YFGtExz0uA
— Casey Michel ?? (@cjcmichel) May 14, 2019
The RS, on the other hand, said it would pay $80,000 every month, on the 15. day of the month to the American law firm, until the last day of December 2019. The agreement was signed by the incumbent RS Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation Minister, Zlatan Klokic, on behalf of the entity.
Casey Michael also tweeted a link to the website, which he said, was probably run by McGinnis Lochridge law firm, lobbying for the Serb-dominated part of Bosnia.
According to the available information on the website, the Texas-based firm provides most of the texts and analysis on it, which do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the RS.
Judging by the dates when the texts were published, Casey Michael's followers concluded that the site must have been created sometime in 2011 and that the site must have been maintained by various lobbying firms which worked with the RS over the years.
