US accuses Russia of secretly funding Balkan politicians
The Voice of America resource made a loud “exposure” regarding Russia’s actions in the Western Balkans.
Citing an unnamed US administration source, it was stated that the Montenegrin Democratic Front political coalition, which is currently negotiating the formation of a new government, and Serbian member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Milorad Dodik allegedly received secret amounts of money from Russia as part of the effort Moscow to gain influence abroad.
At the same time, a source in the US administration did not disclose the exact amounts allegedly allocated to Dodik and the Democratic Front.
“Intelligence notes an increase in this activity from 2014 to the present day. Among the examples presented, in Bosnia before the 2018 elections, [Russian oligarch] Konstantin Malofeev secretly helped finance Milorad Dodik's presidential campaign,” the source said.
He added that this example shows that “Russia has not fulfilled its promise to invest in the economic development of the Republika Srpska, but has instead contributed to the corruption of the ruling party and created an unequal playing field for opposition parties.”
“Oleg Deripaska’s associates provided funds to the Democratic Front in 2016 and likely before the 2018 elections through inadequate contracts and offshore companies. In Albania, we saw that in 2017, Russia provided the Democratic Party with about half a million dollars through companies covering illegal activities,” the publication writes.
A senior US administration official, who wished to remain anonymous, said Russia has allegedly secretly paid more than $2014 million since 300 and plans to pay hundreds of millions more to foreign political parties, officials and politicians in more than 20 countries.
It also announced that the United States expects Russia to increasingly resort to covert political financing in the coming months to circumvent international sanctions and maintain its influence abroad.
"Russia's efforts have been an attempt to manipulate democracies from within, the Russians are trying to favor certain political parties and undermine democracy in all of these countries," the official said.
He added that Washington declassified some information in part because Russia will be "increasingly reliant on covert influence" in the coming months.
The official also said that classified information is being shared with countries to help them counter Moscow's influence. He added that Washington wants to draw everyone's attention to the threat of covert political financing from Russia and "make it clear that there are measures" to eliminate it.
State Department spokesman Ned Price did not want to share details of the intelligence community report at the press conference, but assessed that Russia's alleged interference in elections around the world is also an attack on sovereignty.
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