Konaković one way, US administration another: BiH MFA ordered lobbying in the US which the minister claims he was joking about

(Patria) - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konaković continued to deny signing a contract with the US lobbying firm Bosnian American Alliance on behalf of the Ministry, after the Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into illegal activities.

However, US administration documents show that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded a contract with this lobbying firm on March 28 this year, writes Istraga.ba.

Konaković attacked the editor of Politički.ba, Sead Numanović, on his Facebook profile, who also wrote about the controversial contract.

"Mr. Numanović is caricaturing the story about lobbying and failed to mention that we did not sign the lobbying contract in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but rather did it differently, to truthfully convey what I actually said," Konaković stated.

In an interview he gave to Klix Studio in May this year, Minister Konaković claimed the opposite.

- The contract with American Alliance is *pro bono*, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. American Alliance has the contract because they are my advisors. Because I authorized them to act in the interest of the MFA. Because I have full legal right to do so. Because it costs the country zero convertible marks - Konaković said at the time.

And today he claims he was joking.

Nevertheless, a document from the US NSD/FARA, which is part of the US Department of Justice and where lobbying activities of foreign countries are registered, registered a contract between the lobbying firm Bosnian American Alliance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH.

The document clearly shows that the client for lobbying is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH and that the signing date is 03/28/2025 - identical to the one on the original contract.



We remind you that Istraga.ba published on April 13 this year that Konaković's lobbying failed because part of the money, paid to the lobbyists on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by private companies, was returned to BiH due to suspicions of money laundering.

The contract was certified with the Ministry's seal, registered with Ministry numbers, and signed with Konaković's signature.

Almas Šehić and his friend Mirza Pilaković, who represent the lobbying firm in the US, got into trouble when payments were made to their accounts for "lobbying". According to Istraga's information, this money was collected by entrepreneurs from BiH.

However, the problem is the fact that the contracting party was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH and that the contract stated that the "lobbying" for Bosnia and Herzegovina would be carried out free of charge.

Therefore, it was unclear to anyone in the banking sector on what basis the entrepreneurs paid money for lobbying, if they had not signed such a contract. This resulted in an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH.




Precisely because of the investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, Konaković stated on Face TV that he was joking when he said at the Council of Ministers that he personally signed the mentioned contract in his capacity as minister and that it would be illegal.

- They called me to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH a month ago as a witness. I didn't know what the case was about. When I arrived, the prosecutor and her investigator were professional.

They told me, is this your statement on Klix where I said that Kajganić (Chief State Prosecutor, editor's note) opened an investigation against me personally because I joked at the BiH Council of Ministers that lobbying in America goes through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, that I personally signed that contract.

That is impossible because I do not hold that position. It would be illegal if I did - Konaković said on Saturday evening.