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Bosnian Croat leader Dragan Čović has tapped Trump-linked firm Mercury Public Affairs to lobby for his party, according to Justice Department filings, in a first step toward competing with the country’s Serbian politicians who’ve continued to ply K Street with money.
Bosnia’s Republika Srpska has signed lobbying contracts worth at least $9 million since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, according to a Semafor analysis of DOJ filings, in an effort to align itself with the administration, while leaders like former President Milorad Dodik agitate against sanctions and for independence.
Dodik’s political apparatus has also received help from others, like Rudy Giuliani, who are not registered as lobbyists.
Čović “might be a little alarmed that Dodik is buying up all these friends in Washington, and so he may just want somebody who can get his point of view across,” Jim O’Brien, former presidential envoy for the Balkans, told Semafor.
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O’Brien added that Čović “could be interested in arguing again for a third, Croat-majority entity,” which he said would represent “a major revision” of the Dayton Peace Agreement — the deal that divided the country into two entities, Republica Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the wake of its bloody civil war. The right-leaning Heritage Foundation recently put its weight behind the idea, which critics warn could exacerbate ethnic tensions between the Eastern Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Muslim Bosniaks.
Just one Bosniak politician has hired US lobbyists: Elmedin Konaković of the country-wide Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But it’s unclear if they’ve received any compensation.
Republika Srpska’s lobbying spending represents a decent chunk of its overall budget, which is $4.37 billion this year. More than 1 million people live there.
“How is it possible that millions of dollars in lobbying funds are coming from such a small country with one of the least developed economies in Europe?” asked a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Čović, Republika Srpska, and the Heritage Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.