The Government of Republika Srpska, it was confirmed for BHT1, established the proposal of the Law on the Special Register and Publicity of the Work of Non-Profit Organizations, known to the public as the Law on Foreign Agents, which, as stated, was sent to the National Assembly of the RS for further adoption.
Previously, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska adopted the draft of this law on September 28 last year, which was met with a number of criticisms from the public, non-governmental sector and international organizations.
The draft law foresees, among other things, special monitoring for non-governmental organizations that are financed from abroad, a ban on political activities, the need for additional registration and sending of financial reports.
In addition, the Entity Minister of Justice will be able to propose to the court a ban on their work.
Minister of Justice of Republika Srpska Miloš Bukejlović, explaining the law in the entity parliament, said that he will monitor the activities of these organizations on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The law was announced in 2022 by Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian president of the Republika Srpska and leader of the Union of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), who then said that this law would be based on American solutions.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the withdrawal of this draft law from the agenda of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, because the law itself, as stated by the OHR, “aims to silence and intimidate civil society organizations”, BHRT reports.
