In a response to FENA, a spokesperson for the State Department expressed concern over Russia’s activities aimed at influencing democratic processes in various countries around the world, including Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A high-ranking US official announced that since 2014, Russia has secretly pad more than 300 million dollars to political parties and candidates in 24 countries around the world, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, in the case of BiH, the money went to finance Milorad Dodik’s presidential campaign for the 2018 general elections.
Not wanting to go into specific intelligence information, the spokesperson reminds that their concern about Russia’s actions in this regard does not apply to any country individually, but is global in nature as we face challenges directed against democratic societies.
“Russia’s covert political influence is a major challenge for the United States and other democracies around the world. We worked and are continuing to disclose it as soon as we discover it,” he said.
He announced that the US will continue to work with its allies and partners around the world to expose Russia’s malign influence and to help other countries defend against it.
“We do not have any additional information about individual countries in relation to this matter,” FENA has learned.
As the media reported earlier, official Washington wants to raise awareness at the global level about the threat of Russian secret political financing and to make it clear that there are measures to respond to it, and announced that the countries that have been invited to the Summit for Democracy, which is more than 110 of them, will be duly notified.
The State Department’s claim is based on a declassified US intelligence assessment released on Tuesday, and a senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration said “this is just the tip of the iceberg”.
A US official told media that the United States has been working with allies and partners to gather more information about the risk of Russian funding of political parties in foreign countries.
“What is most shocking in this study is that we see the presence of covert Russian financing around the world. We warn those foreign parties and candidates if they secretly accept Russian money. We have an opportunity to expose them and we will do so,” he added.
The US intelligence assessment released in the cable does not name specific countries or officials believed to have been targeted by Russia, but says they span four continents.
