RS: Republika Srpska Spends Millions Lobbying in US for Independence

Republika Srpska has paid millions of dollars from its budget to lobbyists in Washington D.C. to promote its independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Radio Slobodna Evropa (RSE) analyzed U.S. Department of Justice data revealing that the latest contract with the Israeli-Canadian firm Dickens & Madson is part of a multi-year lobbying campaign by Republika Srpska authorities.

Since 2015, at least $8.3 million has been spent on these efforts. The goals included lifting U.S. sanctions on former entity president and prime minister Milorad Dodik and challenging the legitimacy of High Representative Christian Schmidt. Dodik and his associates had their U.S. sanctions lifted in 2025, and Schmidt resigned in May of the same year. The entity's government has earmarked an additional 54.9 million Bosnian convertible marks (approximately 28 million euros) for lobbying activities through a budget revision for 2025.

The ruling majority in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, led by Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, approved the funds for lobbying. In contrast, representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina's state government have only hired a similar firm once since the end of the war in 1995, for a ten-month period last year, to advocate for the protection of the country's integrity.

Ari Ben-Menaše, founder of Dickens & Madson, declined to answer RSE's questions about whether Republika Srpska's independence remains their objective and how they plan to promote such policies. He cited concerns about contractual confidentiality. Neither the government of Republika Srpska, which signed the contract with Ben-Menaše in September 2025, nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which briefly engaged lobbyists in early 2025 to advocate for BiH's territorial integrity, responded to questions.

According to the Constitution and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities do not have the right to secede, including holding referendums on the matter, although Republika Srpska authorities have announced such possibilities in the past. Meanwhile, on the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the U.S. reiterated its support for Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty and territorial integrity, reaffirming its commitment to stability and security in Bosnia and the Western Balkans. The data from the U.S. Department of Justice's FARA database shows that Republika Srpska has engaged a total of 15 U.S. lobbying and law firms over the past decade, including its own registered representative office. All these firms are connected to Republican political circles in Washington.

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We cannot answer that due to concerns about the confidentiality of the contract.