Republika Srpska pays 80,000 dollars per month to an American lobbying company

(Patria) - For 80,000 dollars per month, Republika Srpska (RS) will hire the American lobbying law firm 'McGinnis Lochridge' for a period of one year to advise and represent them in international legal matters, according to a letter of intent sent by the American lawyer to the Ministry of Economy and Regional Cooperation of Republika Srpska at the end of December last year.

In the confidential document, a letter of intent published by the US Department of Justice, the signatory of the document is the Minister of Economy and Regional Cooperation of Republika Srpska, Zlatan Klokić, as well as the lawyer and partner of the hired company, Martin T. Lutz.

The data also shows that Minister Klokić agreed to and signed the letter of intent on February 5th of this year.

The Minister of Economy and Regional Cooperation of Republika Srpska, Zlatan Klokić, declined to comment on the document published by the US Department of Justice for RSE.

The document states that the company's predictions are to assist the government of Republika Srpska in the following matters:

"Legal issues and obligations of Republika Srpska under applicable international law, including the Dayton Peace Agreement and other agreements to which Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory, such as the European Convention on Human Rights.

Rights and obligations of Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the Office of the High Representative, the Peace Implementation Council, the United Nations Security Council, the OSCE, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and others."

In addition, the obligations of the Texas-based law firm will include advising on relations with the international community, as well as legal issues related to the harmonization of institutions and laws of Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina with the constitutional framework of BiH in accordance with the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Furthermore, according to the letter of intent, 'McGinnis Lochridge LLP' will advise the government of Republika Srpska on harmonizing the laws and institutions of BiH and RS with European standards regarding accession to the European Union.

The scope of work under the signed cooperation does not include representing Republika Srpska or any of its officials in matters concerning the preparation or conduct of litigation before courts inside or outside of BiH.

"Any representation in courts will be agreed upon separately," the document published by the US Department of Justice states. According to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), enacted in 1938, entities engaged in political activities or other similar activities defined by the statute are required to report and publicly disclose their cooperation with such entities, as well as their activities, receipts, and disbursements, to the Department of Justice.

In response to Radio Free Europe (RSE), American lawyer Martin Lutz, who signed the letter of intent with RS, stated that he cannot comment on his work for any client.

"Following the rules of legal ethics under which we operate and our obligations regarding client confidentiality, we cannot publicly comment on our work for any client, other than what is in the public record, unless the client has requested it. Our client in this case has not requested that we discuss our work with journalists," Lutz told Radio Free Europe.

The engagement between the Texas-based company and Republika Srpska has been agreed upon for a period of one year, starting from January 1st of this year.

This is not the first time Republika Srpska has cooperated with the same company for the same amount of money. The previous contract with McGinnis Lochridge lasted from May 1st to December 31st of last year. The only difference between last year's document and the new one is that the January document is a letter of intent, while last year an agreement was signed.