Republika Srpska Spent Millions Lobbying U.S. for Independence

Republika Srpska has reportedly spent $4 million from its budget on lobbying firms in Washington D.C. to promote its independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to an analysis of U.S. Justice Department data by Radio Slobodna Evropa (RSE).

The latest contract with the Israeli-Canadian firm Dickens & Madson is part of a broader, multi-year lobbying campaign by Republika Srpska authorities in the United States. Since 2015, these efforts have cost at least $8.3 million. Key objectives included lifting U.S. sanctions on former entity president and prime minister Milorad Dodik and challenging the authority of High Representative Christian Schmidt. Notably, Dodik's sanctions were lifted in 2025, and Schmidt resigned in May of the same year.

Further underscoring the commitment to these lobbying activities, the Republika Srpska government has allocated an additional 54.9 million Bosnian convertible marks (approximately 28 million euros) for lobbying efforts through a budget revision for 2025. This funding was approved by the ruling majority in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, led by Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats.

In contrast, state-level authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have engaged similar firms only once since the end of the war in 1995, for a ten-month period last year, to advocate for the protection of state integrity. Ari Ben-Menaše, founder of Dickens & Madson, declined to comment on whether independence for Republika Srpska remains a goal of their engagement or how they plan to advocate for such policies. Neither the Republika Srpska government nor the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to RSE's inquiries.

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