OSCE Mission sees concession for Croatia third TV channel as increasing pluralism

ZAGREB, 17 September 2003 - The Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Peter Semneby, said today he hoped the decision to allocate the frequency of the third national television channel to a private bidder would promote the private broadcasting sector in Croatia and introduce healthy competition to the Croatian television scene.

The decision for the tender was taken yesterday by the Croatian Council for Radio and Television by a majority vote, after a bidding procedure that appeared to be transparent.

"This will hopefully contribute to the pluralism of the television market in Croatia and benefit the Croatian public through a wider variety of views in television news programming," Ambassador Semneby said.

"We are satisfied with the openness of the selection procedure, regardless of who was eventually awarded the tender," he added.

The OSCE Mission to Croatia has long recommended privatization of the third national television channel under an open and transparent process. This was also an expert recommendation to the Croatian Government when Croatia entered the Council of Europe in 1996.