Today, twenty non-governmental organizations (NGOs) released a joint statement claiming that the Serbian authorities, via an investigation by the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, are attempting to retaliate against civil society. These organizations have long raised concerns over abuses related to public competitions, corruption, legal violations, and infringements on citizens’ electoral rights.

The statement indicates that the government accuses civil society of misappropriating donations from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) while simultaneously overlooking fraudulent NGOs that are improperly utilizing funds from the Serbian budget.

“We call for an immediate cessation of the harassment of civic organizations through the misuse of Serbian institutions, a halt to the government’s smear campaigns via tabloids, and a thorough investigation into those genuinely misusing Serbian taxpayer money, including all other funds distributed through state institutions,” asserts the statement from the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation.

Furthermore, it notes that since 2000, the United States has provided over a billion dollars in development assistance to Serbia via USAID and other American entities, with most of these funds being funneled into the Serbian budget, rather than into the accounts of civil society organizations and media outlets.

“Among other contributions, USAID has provided $10 million to the Serbian government for the ‘Better Energy’ project, $9.8 million for judicial reforms, $9 million for combating the coronavirus pandemic, and $8.5 million for the Responsible Government Project,” the announcement specified.

The organizations that signed the statement include the Association of Independent Electronic Media, the Autonomous Women’s Center, the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, Civic Initiatives, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina, Partners Serbia, and others.

Today, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (HPO) in Belgrade announced that it has mandated the seizure of all documentation related to USAID donations from four NGOs in Serbia, as well as interviews with the executives of those organizations regarding the utilization of donation funds.

The statement indicates that, per the directive of the HPO, the police commenced gathering information this morning concerning the operations of the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), Civic Initiatives, the Center for Practical Politics, and the Trag Foundation.

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