CIVICUS discusses the foreign agents’ law recently adopted in Republika Srpska, one of the two main political entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Damjan Ožegović, Senior Researcher and Legal Affairs Associate at Transparency International (TI) Bosnia. TI Bosnia is the national chapter of TI, a global civil society organisation (CSO) that works against corruption by promoting transparency, accountability and integrity.
Republika Srpska’s new foreign agents’ law requires civil society and media organisations that receive international funds to register as foreign agents and subjects them to extensive controls. While the law is ostensibly intended to safeguard national security and counter foreign interference, it forms part of a concerning global pattern of similar legislation designed to restrict independent voices.