OSCE media freedom representative asks Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities to keep broadcast regulator independent

VIENNA, 16 January 2009 - Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, asked the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to prevent legal changes that would threaten the independence of the country's broadcast regulator.

"I am concerned about recent attempts by the Federation Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina to curtail the role of the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) with respect to regulating public-service broadcasting," Haraszti wrote in a recent letter to Nedzad Brankovic, Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to the chair of the House of Peoples of the Federation.

Haraszti referred to proposed amendments to the "Law on Communications in Bosnia and Herzegovina", as well as to amendments to the "Law on the Public Broadcasting Service of Federation BiH" that were adopted by the Federation House of Representatives on 30 December.

"If passed, these amendments would open the door to the politicization of the regulatory agency. They would give the responsibility of selecting members of the Governing Board of Federation RTV to the Federation Parliament, excluding the CRA entirely from the appointment procedure," Haraszti said.

"For the broadcast regulator to function as a credible remedial instrument, its political independence must be guaranteed. De-politicization of the broadcasting governance is an essential requisite of European democracies."

Haraszti emphasized that an independent broadcast regulator was particularly important in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the public-service broadcasting structure has the vital function of uniting divisions in a single national structure.