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Sarajevo, (Fena) – The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world’s largest association of public service media, today issued an urgent appeal to the European Commission to prevent the collapse of Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT).
In a letter to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Vice-President Marta Kos, the EBU is calling for a decisive response and pressure on the institutions of BiH in order to stop the escalation of the BHRT crisis.
– Despite weeks of warnings and peaceful protests by BHRT employees, no political representative has appeared, reacted, or joined the protests, not even while both houses of Parliament were in session in the same building. The complete absence of an institutional response shows the urgent need for international attention and action, the signatories of the letter emphasized.
The signatories, among them numerous European journalists’ associations, institutions, and public service media from EBU member states, express their “deepest concern about the rapid deterioration of the situation at BHRT,” warning that the only public service media at the state level is now on the verge of shutdown.
They point out that BHRT’s financial crisis has escalated into an existential threat and that the survival of the service has for years been undermined by the prolonged violation of the state broadcasting law by RTRS, through which BHRT has been “deprived of more than 46 million euros, bringing it to the brink of insolvency.”
The signatories warn that the disappearance of BHRT would eliminate the only independent source of information at the state level, create a vacuum that would be filled by media under the influence of foreign, particularly Russian, interests, undermine Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU accession process, and set a dangerous precedent for public service media across the Western Balkans.
They stress that BHRT is only a few days away from ceasing operations and that the situation has reached a point where only urgent and coordinated domestic and international action can prevent irreparable damage.
In addition to the leaders of the European Commission, the letter was also sent to representatives of domestic authorities and international organizations in BiH, namely the Presidency of BiH, members of Parliament, the Council of Ministers of BiH and the competent ministries, the OHR and the OSCE Mission in BiH.
The signatories demand from the institutions of BiH urgent financial support, lawful and regular distribution of the RTV fee, the adoption of a new, sustainable funding model, resolution of the issue of unpaid pension insurance contributions, as well as the halting of further degradation of the journalistic profession and the adoption of a fair and transparent job classification system.
– This is not only a matter of media freedom. The possible shutdown of BHRT represents a security threat with regional implications and must be treated as such, the letter stresses.
The EBU states that this appeal is an example of the largest participation of public service media and journalists’ associations in an action to help a single media outlet, a member of the EBU network. (10.12.)