This post is also available in: Bosnian
The Gold Institute for International Strategy, a think tank led by retired US General Michael Flynn – now a paid lobbyist for Bosnia’s Republika Srpska entity – has announced the “First Annual Economic Summit Europe 2026” will be held in the Serb entity’s main city, Banja Luka, in May.
The Gold Institute website said the event will offer “fresh insights and practical solutions to both familiar and imminent problems on the world stage”. The programme and participants have not yet been announced.
Flynn was US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser for just over three weeks in 2017; he resigned over allegations that he had lied to the FBI about conversations he had with the Russian ambassador to Washington.
According to US records, Flynn is currently a paid lobbyist for the authorities in Republika Srpska through a contract worth around $100,000 per month.
Documents from the US Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA, registry state that Flynn is engaged to provide “strategic advice and analysis” and work to improve political relations between Republika Srpska and the US. His engagement also included “connecting with decision-makers and influential actors in Washington”.
Flynn, who has been described as a “Christian nationalist”, has said that the goal of his work is “representing [Republika Srpska’s] views in the United States”.
He was in Banja Luka a month ago, when a lecture he gave was broadcast live by RTRS, the public broadcaster of Republika Srpska. A comment he made, stating that “Islam is not a religion, but a political ideology”, caused controversy in the country.
After Flynn resigned in 2017, he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, which was probing Russian interference in the previous year’s presidential election. He later withdrew his guilty plea and Trump pardoned him in 2020. Flynn then sued the US Justice Department and recently received a financial settlement.
His family name has been in the news in Bosnia recently also because media outlets have reported that AAFS Infrastructure and Energy, a company linked to Flynn’s brother, Joseph, has been selected by the government of Bosnia’s Federation entity as the main concessionaire for the Southern Interconnection gas pipeline project.
The pipeline is intended to link Bosnia to a Croatian LNG terminal and reduce reliance on Russian gas.
Republika Srpska authorities have so far declined to comment on the holding of the Economic Summit Europe 2026 in Banja Luka.
