The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and its Broadcasting Expert Group (BREG) expressed in an open letter its deep concerns about the alarming situation in which the Radio-Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) currently finds itself.

The public service media, crucial for informing citizens and preserving media pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have long been facing serious financial difficulties that threaten its survival and daily operation, as well as violate employees’ labour rights.

With this letter, the EFJ urges the BiH institutions to take immediate action to ensure the stable funding and functioning of BHRT by:

Ensuring a regular and fair distribution of RTV fees by the law, allowing BHRT to receive the funds it is legally entitled to;
Adopting a new law that guarantees BHRT’s long-term political and financial independence;
Stopping the degradation of the journalism profession and ensuring adequate salaries and working conditions for media professionals and all BHRT employees by applying fair and appropriate job classification system;
Enabling the payment of outstanding contributions so BHRT employees can claim their right to retirement.
We follow the situation closely and support the workers’ fight for the survival of the public media service. We consider that working conditions at BHRT are barely tolerable for employees who maintain broadcasting activities by waiving their rights. Respect for their professionalism is the starting point for the proper set-up of the broadcaster. We approve and support the complaint against these implausible conditions,” said Christiana Jankovics, Chair of BREG.