A recent report broadcast by TV1 in Sarajevo attacked the National Endowment for Democracy and the National Democratic Institute, as well as two Washington-based experts, accusing them of favoring specific political parties in BiH. Based on the fact that recent opinion polls funded by NDI showed that Milorad Dodik and Željko Komšić would be likely to win hypothetical elections held today, the TV1 report alleged that NDI and NED have inapropriate ties to Dodik’s SNSD and Komšić’s Democratic Front.
According to the report, “In the past NDI has favored two parties in BiH: SDP in the FBiH and SNSD in Republika Srpska….It no longer favors SDP. Its favored FBiH party now is the Democratic Front of Željko Komšić.”
TV1 went on to implicate two specific individuals in what it portrayed as a corrupt arrangement with the above-mentioned parties:
What caused such a sudden change in the NDI’s position? The only explanation is that [Washington-based consultant] Reuf Bajrović left SDP and decided to support Komsić’s Democratic Front. Bajrović has a strong, behind the scene influence on NGOs interested in BiH thanks to the influence of his wife, Ivana Howard Cvetković. Cvetković participates in distribution of money to Bosnian NGOs through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
TV1 is owned by politician and media mogul Fahrudin Radoncic, who is the founder of the Union for a Better Future of BiH.
