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Concern is growing over a cyber-security software deal between the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina and China’s ELINC, owned by a conglomerate sanctioned by the United States over alleged ties to China’s ‘military-industrial complex’.

Bypassing regular public procurement procedures, the pro-Russian government of predominantly Serb-populated Republika Srpska signed the 29-million-euro, 10-year deal in June 2024, though it only became public thanks to media reports.

Under the contract, ELINC, which is owned by China Electronics Corporation, is in the process of installing IT security software in 780 public bodies across the entity.

When the deal became public, the government said it would shore up the security of personal data in the wake of several cyber attacks on public institutions, including the health system, which saw the data of hundreds of people offered up for sale on the dark web.

Authorities say that due to US sanctions on entity President Milorad Dodik, his family and a number of political allies, they have little option but to go Chinese.

However, critics, including rights watchdogs, Western diplomats and cyber security experts, say the choice is reckless, and the lack of transparency alarming.

The move comes against a backdrop of shrinking democratic freedoms in Republika Srpska, where authorities have revived criminal defamation laws and promoted legislation inspired by Russia and Hungary that would label foreign-funded NGOs ‘agents’.

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Chinese digital infrastructure can be found elsewhere in the Balkans.

In Serbia, authorities have deployed Huawei-built facial recognition cameras in Belgrade, while Montenegro and North Macedonia have experimented with similar tools.

“Southeast Europe is becoming a laboratory for digital authoritarianism,” said Vuk Vuksanovic of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy. “China is exporting its surveillance playbook, and local elites are eager to buy in.”