Hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into the budgets of numerous non-governmental associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as the media and other organizations, for the purpose of promoting a democratic society and similar goals. In the last five years, as much as 80 million United States (U.S.) dollars should have helped in the fight against Russian influence in our country.
This is shown by the report of the Countering Russian Influence Fund (CRIF), which was published by the Office of the Inspector General of the State Department.
Washington has thus funded civil society organizations fighting for the rule of law, media, cyber security, and other programs that strengthen democratic processes and institutions to counter Russian influence.
“From the fiscal year 2017 through the fiscal year 2022, Congress appropriated $1.5 billion dollars in four foreign aid packages,” the CRIF report said.
The purpose of CRIF is to provide U.S. assistance to countries potentially under the influence of the Russian Federation that lack the economic capacity to respond effectively.
Therefore, the U.S. financially helps the NATO alliance, members of the European Union (EU), but also countries that are trying to become members of NATO and the EU, such as BiH, Albania, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine.
And where is that money?
In the report, in the part concerning BiH, it is stated that during the fiscal year 2021, the media and civil society programs in BiH “increased resistance to disinformation, investigative journalism focused on corruption was supported, the ability of civil society organizations (NGOs) to fight corruption was improved, and educational initiatives to counter Russian disinformation were promoted in order to stop fueling themistrust among ethnoreligious groups.”
However, the question that is rarely asked is how much money was actually spent in a justified way, that is, what specific projects were implemented and how much our society felt the benefit of the hundreds of millions of BAM that foreign countries, primarily the U.S., have been pumping into BiH non-governmental sector and a large number of media since the war.
Many are of the opinion that many associations in the non-governmental sector have actually been “selling the fog” for years, faking activism, and at the same time living lavishly on the benefits of foreign donations, while the civil sector is stagnating, and the principles they supposedly stand for have remained in the drawers of the documentation they collect for grants. and other projects.
Finally, one should ask how much BiH is actually still under malignant Russian influence, whether the intensity has weakened or strengthen in the wake of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and whether in reality it was managed to be suppressed at all if it is a well-known fact that it is achieved through politics, and we know that Moscow has its “tentacles” in BiH, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dzz
