UO BH novinari: Zahtijevamo hitne mjere Predsjedništva BiH, Parlamenta i Vijeća ministara za spas BHRT-a

(Patria) - The Management Board of the BH Journalists Association demands that the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Ministers and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina urgently adopt decisions and immediately find a solution for the most serious crisis so far facing the state public service BHRT!

"After the Presidency of BiH adopted the Budget Proposal for this year, BHRT was left without 22 million marks from the budget that were supposed to be directed towards repaying the debt to the European Broadcasting Union. BHRT's total debt for taxes and contributions on employee salaries amounts to 54 million KM, and RTRS's debt to BHRT, which currently stands at nearly 100 million KM, is the main reason for the financial blockade. Due to unpaid bills, BHRT could soon be left without electricity and gas, and a blockade of this public service's accounts is also being considered due to over 9.5 million KM in VAT debt," it was stated in the announcement.

They add: "If the problem of accumulated debts is not urgently resolved and funds for the long-term financing of BHRT are not found, the next step will be the seizure of assets of this public RTV service, and more than 700 employees will be left on the street. The years-long ignorant behavior of representatives of the competent institutions, primarily the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH as the founder of BHRT, towards the state public service is unacceptable. Political blockades and neglect towards BHRT could have far-reaching consequences for the entire country, which, without a financially sustainable public RTV service, cannot expect progress on the path to the European Union. The survival of the public broadcasting system in BiH is one of the conditions that the state must fulfill in the EU accession process. In addition, the disconnection of electricity and gas and the seizure of assets due to the debt to the European Broadcasting Union would also jeopardize the work of Federal TV, Television Sarajevo, the transmitters of the Border Service, the Agency for Identification Documents, and the transmitters of telecom operators."

"The BH Journalists Association demands that representatives of the competent institutions stop procrastinating and shifting responsibility among themselves and that, without any political calculations, they assume the constitutional and legal obligation to protect the state public service! We demand the urgent adoption of temporary financial measures that will prevent the shutdown of BHRT, the initiation of procedures for the collection of RTRS's debts without delay, as well as the initiation of legal amendments that will ensure a sustainable, transparent and fair financing model for all three public services.

We warn that any further passivity will be considered a direct undermining of the public interest and an attack on the citizens' right to information. We expect concrete, measurable and immediately implementable steps from the responsible state leadership, not new promises and empty statements of 'concern' for the fate of the state public service. BHRT can no longer be kept on the brink of survival, and the institutions that continue to ignore this crisis will bear full responsibility before the citizens and international partners," conclude BH Novinari.