Belgrade – Serbian police raided the offices of at least four civil society organizations on Tuesday as part of an investigation into suspected misuse of US Agency for International Development (USAID) funds in Serbia.
This action comes after the administration of US President Donald Trump froze the organization's funds for 90 days in January and has since taken steps to dismantle the aid agency, laying off over a thousand of its employees.
State Prosecutor Nenad Stefanovic said that Serbia has requested information from the US Department of Justice on suspicions of misuse of USAID funds and money laundering in Serbia, referring to statements by President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, billionaire Elon Musk, and other US officials following the decision to freeze USAID funds.
The special anti-corruption department has asked the police “to collect all intelligence data to verify the information and gather evidence on suspicious spending of USAID funds, misuse of funds and suspicions of money laundering,” said prosecutor Stefanovic.
Police have been instructed to collect all documentation about USAID donations to four non-governmental organizations, he said.
Two Belgrade-based organizations, the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability, 'CRTA', and the Civic Initiative, confirmed that police forces raided their offices on Tuesday.
CRTA, which conducts independent election monitoring in Serbia, posted on the X network that it was “fully cooperating with state authorities.”
The Civic Initiative organization described the raid as a "serious attack on fundamental civil rights and a continuation of the unlawful pressure on civil society in Serbia."
"The use of the police for political purposes represents a gross misuse of state institutions to crack down on those who think differently and a restriction of free and democratic activities in Serbia," the organization said in a statement.
The raids in Serbia come as populist President Aleksandar Vucic and his government have been grappling with anti-corruption protests in recent months. Student-led demonstrations have grown into a nationwide anti-corruption movement that is creating problems for President Vucic, a vocal supporter of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since the 1990s, USAID has invested billions of dollars in countries like Moldova, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina – all former communist states aiming to become members of the European Union.
In these countries, USAID funds have promoted democratic institutions and reforms, helped develop infrastructure and energy security, strengthened businesses and economies, and supported a significant number of non-governmental organizations and independent media.
Most donations in Serbia have been given to state institutions, according to opposition officials and independent media reports./ VOA (A2 Televizion)
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