The President of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik, announced that the RS Interior Ministry has been instructed to investigate USAID’s activities in the entity. He claimed—without providing any evidence—that significant funds had been misused and directed towards financing non-governmental organizations and Christian Schmidt, the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik stated that Republika Srpska’s institutions would examine whom USAID had financed and how. He further alleged, again without offering proof, that 40,000 people had received payments from USAID, calling them “a serious number of mercenaries and foreign agents.”

“USAID has been paying Christian Schmidt, even though it is clear that he was not appointed in accordance with international law,” Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka following a session of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Executive Committee and leadership.

Dodik was asked what he hoped to achieve with this investigation. He responded by claiming that he wanted to support US President Donald Trump, who he said had called USAID a criminal organization.

“Do you think we should stay silent when the US government says the equipment USAID installed in Bosnia and Herzegovina was used to manipulate election results?” Dodik added, again without offering any supporting evidence.

He acknowledged that USAID had invested in humanitarian organizations and the development sector but dismissed these efforts as a “cover-up.”

“This is serious theft and crime. We know which journalists and media outlets were paid when they received the money, and how their editorial policies were shaped,” Dodik asserted, without presenting any documentation to substantiate these claims.

He further accused USAID of operating illegally, outside international law and regulations, though he did not provide legal arguments to support this assertion.

Dodik concluded by stating that the problem was that SNSD was not afraid to expose such activities, adding that his party would not remain silent on these matters. However, he did not provide any verifiable evidence to support his accusations against USAID.