OSCE RFoM and Mission call for immediate action to safeguard the functioning and independence of Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina

VIENNA/SARAJEVO, 27 November 2025 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Ambassador Jan Braathu, and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Rick Holtzapple, call on the Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Ministers, and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to take immediate and co-ordinated action to ensure the uninterrupted and independent functioning of Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT). In addition to adopting temporary measures to mitigate the consequences of its ongoing financial crisis, including securing salaries for employees and preventing a potential shutdown, the authorities must establish a sustainable and transparent financing model that guarantees BHRT’s long-term stability and independence.

Representative Braathu and Ambassador Holtzapple further urge the authorities to uphold the rule of law by fully implementing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s public broadcasting systems law. This requires the entity-level public service broadcasters – Radio and Television of Republika Srpska (RTRS) and Radio and Television of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FTVBiH) – to regularly transfer their legally mandated shares of revenue from the radio and television tax (RTV fee) to BHRT and for the RTV fee to be shared among the three broadcasters in the amount prescribed by law. Collection of the RTV fee should be applied consistently throughout the entire country. Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Supreme Court of Republika Srpska concerning debts owed by RTRS to BHRT must be respected.

A politically independent and financially stable public broadcasting system is both a legal obligation and a clear demonstration of authorities’ commitment to core democratic values.

Within their respective mandates and expertise, the RFoM and the Mission stand ready to support authorities in these efforts, thereby helping them implement a longstanding recommendation of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and of the RFoM.