DE LUCA: TEAM HAS WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THAT SECURITY SITUATION HERE IS STABLE

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 6 /SRNA/ - A former US prosecutor close to the Trump administration investigating the spending of money through USAID in BiH, Martin De Luca, said today in Banja Luka that the most important thing is that the security situation here is stable and that the team working on the ground has witnessed it firsthand. He also expressed satisfaction with the cooperation with the institutions of Republika Srpska.

After a meeting with the Director of the Republika Srpska Police, Siniša Kostrešević, at the Police Administration headquarters, De Luca said that the investigation into the funds disbursed from the U.S. is still ongoing and that he cannot disclose any further details regarding the matter at this time.

"We had a meeting with the police. I cannot comment on what we discussed, except to say that it is an ongoing investigation we are working on, so I cannot comment on the details. The most important thing is that the security situation here is stable and that the team working on the ground has witnessed it firsthand," De Luca told the "BL" news portal.

He emphasized that they are satisfied with the cooperation with the institutions of Republika Srpska.

"We are always glad to work with anyone in the police who can help. That is important for the United States. It’s important for our work, for the job we are doing, to cooperate with various institutions. Without cooperation, we wouldn't have achieved anything here today," said De Luca.

De Luca, who previously served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S., also visited Banja Luka at the end of February, when he confirmed that an investigation had been launched in BiH regarding the spending of money through USAID.

At that time, he said that, according to preliminary findings, approximately $402 million had been spent on USAID programs in BiH over the past four years.

"Of that amount, based on what the authorities in BiH have told us, they can account for $155 million, which includes detailed project descriptions. However, there still appears to be around $250 million that lacks clear explanations of how the funds were used and how they were spent," De Luca said.

He added that, since this involves U.S. taxpayer money, it is a high priority to clarify what happened.

"This is something we are observing very carefully and, you know, we are grateful for the invitation to cooperate and the opportunity to investigate it," De Luca said at the time.