Serbian police raid offices of watchdogs, seek evidence on USAID donations

BELGRADE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Serbian police raided the offices of two Belgrade-based democracy watchdogs, seeking information about possible abuse of funds donated by the U.S. international aid agency (USAID), Nenad Stefanovic, a senior state prosecutor, said on Tuesday.
The move came after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump froze USAID funding for 90 days in January and has since sought to scale down the aid agency.
NGOs, media and humanitarian projects worldwide have been affected, including those in southern and eastern European countries like Bosnia and Hungary.
Stefanovic said prosecutors sought information from the U.S. following statements by Trump, State Secretary Marco Rubio, billionaire Elon Musk and other U.S. officials about the freeze of USAID funding.
Stefanovic said the CRTA pollster and the watchdogs Civic Initiatives, Trag, and the Policy Center were under investigation following allegations by top U.S. officials about excessive spending of USAID funds.
"The (Serbian) Special Anti-Corruption Department... contacted the U.S. Justice Department for information concerning USAID over the abuse of funds, possible money laundering, and the improper spending of American taxpayers' funds in Serbia," he said in a TV broadcast.
Stefanovic added that the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office had ordered the confiscation of all documentation related to USAID from the four organisations and ordered interviews with individuals in charge of spending.
Maja Stojanovic, executive director of Civic Initiatives, said around 20 detectives raided her organisation's offices without presenting a court order.
"Today's intrusion by the police... represents a brutal demonstration of force and continued pressure on civil society in Serbia," Stojanovic said.
The raids came amid ongoing mass student protests against populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government.
Students, opposition parties and rights watchdogs accuse authorities loyal to Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party of rampant corruption, bribing voters, stifling media freedom, violence against opponents, and ties with organised crime.
Vucic and his allies deny the allegations.
USAID has invested almost $1 billion in Serbia since 2001 to bolster growth, strengthen the rule of law and improve good governance, including donations to government bodies and parliament, as well as to a number of watchdogs and rights organisations.

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BBC News

43 minutes ago

• BBC News

Could this be the most significant Nato since the Cold War?

As the world holds its breath to see what happens next after the US launched direct attacks on Iran's nuclear sites, US President Donald Trump is expected in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a Nato will be Trump's first Nato meeting since being re-elected. In the past, he's made angry comments about alliance members freeloading off US security guarantees. European allies are desperate to prove him wrong. They hope to persuade him not to pull troops or US capabilities out of the continent."Relations with Europe have been so strained since Trump returned to the White House - over trade tariffs and more - that a few weeks ago, we weren't even sure he'd turn up to this summit," one high level diplomat - who spoke on condition of anonymity - told me."With Russia and China watching for western weakness, that would have been a disaster."But Moscow and Beijing may yet be able to bring out the popcorn. Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte designed this summit around Trump. He aimed to flatter him by agreeing massive hikes in defence spending, to show that Europeans would now take more responsibility for their own also hoped that by keeping the meeting narrowly focused on money, he'd avoid any potential clashes or outbursts between Trump and his carefully-laid plan could be on Iran's next move, the US commander-in-chief may decide at the last minute to remain in the Situation Room in he does come to Europe, as expected, how will it be possible not to talk about the Middle East considering what's at stake? That would introduce the risk of a fallout between the US President and European allies, who advocated diplomacy over bombing when it came to Iran. Trump loves a win and he's very thin-skinned. He won't want to feel any disapproval at the Nato he'd been assured of a headline-grabbing victory at the summit, with European countries committing to spending a whopping 5% of GDP on defence - exactly as he demanded in his first weeks back in the White House."This summit is about credibility," is how the US ambassador to Nato, Matthew Whitaker, puts Spain claimed on Sunday that it had secured an opt-out from the new spending plan - something Rutte later allies in Europe that are struggling to find the extra cash are bristling bottom line is: Europe needs to keep big military and nuclear power US onside. That's how Rutte managed to corral reluctant leaders - bar Spain - into signing up to the new big spending push. It's a massive as the former US ambassador to Nato, Julianne Smith, told me - even then, there are absolutely no guarantees with Trump. It's unclear if the US would sign up to an end-of-summit declaration this week identifying Russia as the main threat to the Nato trust in the US as its ultimate protector has been shaken by Trump's seemingly softly-softly approach with Moscow, and by his heavy-handed pressure on Kyiv, as he's tried to end the war in on Friday night, you could almost hear European diplomats grinding their teeth, after Trump blithely justified the enormous 5% defence spending target he's demanded of allies, while exempting himself and the US from the commitment."I don't think we should, but I think they should," he said. "We've been supporting Nato so long… So I don't think we should, but I think that the Nato countries should, absolutely."Then again, Europe's leaders arguably should have been better prepared by now in terms of may be the bluntest and most unpredictable, but Trump is by no means the first US president to want to move military attention and investment from Europe to other priority areas, particularly the Indo-Pacific. President Obama was very clear about that back in 2011. The US has nuclear weapons stored in Italy, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It has 100,000 battle-ready troops stationed across Europe, 20,000 of them in Eastern European Nato countries, sent there by President Biden after Russia's full-scale invasion of continent could make up a shortfall in troop numbers, especially with Germany and Poland planning to significantly build up their ground forces over the next few years. 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It's not hard to persuade Poles that defence is a top politicians in countries further away from Russia, the argument is more challenging. Spanish media has been full of speculation that disagreements over defence spending could topple the country's precarious coalition government. 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Another option is a reduction in welfare spending - known as "guns or butter," or "tanks or pensions" its Strategic Defence Review, the UK recently stressed to the public the need for more military spending, but Mr Chalmers says neither Downing Street nor most other European governments have fully prepared their electorates for the trade-offs that huge new defence investments will timetable for reaching the 5% target is key. Nato allies have called for a 7-10 year window. Nato's Secretary General has suggested that could be too late. With Moscow's economy very much on a war footing, Russia will be able to attack a Nato country within five years, he says. Defending Europe isn't just about how much governments spend. As important is what they spend their money on.A big European weakness is that there are lots of duplicate and incompatible capabilities across the continent: reportedly 178 different types of weapon systems and 17 different makes of tanks in the EU alone, for example. Putting aside national defence contracts and pride, and pooling European resources in the name of efficiency, is yet another thorny debate that will likely be sidelined at this week's what definite outcomes can we expect?That very much depends on the man arriving in the Netherlands on Airforce ambassador to Nato says the meeting could be historic."A watershed moment" is how another high-level diplomat put it to me – and possibly "the most significant Nato summit since the Cold War": the moment Europe began to spend as much as the US on defence and to truly assume responsibility for its own security. BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.

The Guardian

an hour ago

• The Guardian

‘Helpless and trapped': political prisoners stuck in Tehran jail with no way to flee bombings

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Telegraph

an hour ago

• Telegraph

US-Israeli Gaza aid agency needs $30 million to stop it collapsing

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