BHRT Warns International Institutions: Shutdown of Public Broadcaster Would Jeopardize Security and Resilience of BiH State

(Patria) - Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) has warned international institutions that the shutdown of the Public Broadcaster would have serious consequences not only for media freedom but also for the security and resilience of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The complete content of the letter, which BHRT sent to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, the Secretary General of NATO, and the ambassadors of the Quint countries, can be read here.

The letter states, among other things, that BHRT, in addition to being the only public broadcaster at the state level, also manages key state transmission infrastructure - a network of transmitters and repeaters that enables signal coverage throughout the entire territory of BiH, including remote and mountainous areas where alternative communication capacities often do not exist.

BHRT warns that the "operational sustainability of the state transmission infrastructure is under a real and immediate threat" due to a long-term financial crisis directly linked to the non-implementation of legally prescribed mechanisms for collecting and distributing the RTV fee.

The letter emphasizes that this infrastructure directly or indirectly supports communication capacities relevant to the functioning of police and security structures, defense systems, civil protection and crisis response, as well as communication stability in the context of air traffic.

It is stressed that the current exposure to risk is not a consequence of technical failures or a lack of expert capacity, but rather a long-term institutional failure to ensure sustainable financial mechanisms for the continuity of this critical infrastructure.

BHRT states that it remains available to provide detailed technical and operational risk assessments, and calls on international partners to be fully informed about the seriousness of the situation and its potential implications for national resilience and regional security stability.