http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/18/AR2006101801
698.html
The Washington Post
Politics > Federal Page
News & Politics
Promoting Serbia, for a Price
By Judy Sarasohn
Thursday, October 19, 2006; Page A27
Republican lobbying shop Barbour Griffith & Rogers has picked up a
client
that won't be an easy sell to the U.S. government, but at least it pays
well.
The contract is with the government of Serbia for $60,000 a month, from
July 28,
2006, through Jan. 31, 2009. If all goes as planned, that would amount to
a
total of $1.8 million.
Barbour Griffith's work for Serbia, which wants to join the European
Union,
comes at a time of tense negotiations over the independence of Kosovo and
its
ethnic Albanians as well as the Serbian government's apparent lack of
interest
in finding war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic. Kosovo has been administered
by the
United Nations since 1999, when a U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign drove
Serbian
forces out.
For $60,000 a month, Barbour Griffith will "provide strategic counsel and
tactical planning on foreign policy matters regarding Serbia before the
U.S.
government," according to the contract the firm included in its
foreign-agent
filing with the Justice Department. The contract was signed by Milan
Parivodic,
the minister for international economic relations, as O'Dwyer's PR Daily
first
reported.
The firm's lobby registration with Congress answered the question on
specific
lobbying issues this way: "Provide guidance and counsel with regard to
issues
impacting the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Serbia."
The Barbour Griffith team working for Serbia includes Robert A. Blackwill
,
former deputy national security adviser in the Bush administration, and
Andrew
Parasiliti , former foreign policy adviser to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).
Blackwill is president of Barbour Griffith & Rogers International ,
the
lobby shop's foreign policy arm, and Parasiliti is vice president.
Blackwill was in Serbia in May 2005 and spoke at the University of
Belgrade.
According to a copy of his speech, he expressed optimism about Serbia's
future,
and urged the Bush administration recognize "the need to collaborate with
Serbia
to achieve lasting progress in this region." But, noting his "own private
views," he also said: "If the final status of Kosovo is not reached soon,
the
region risks a new eruption of violence. That would also push back for
many
years Serbia's full reentry into Europe and into the international
community."
Barbour Griffith doesn't usually say much about its work for clients.
Parasiliti
went so far as to say: "We are pleased to be able to work for the
government of
Serbia."
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