OSCE Mission to Croatia position on HRT Law

ZAGREB, 8 February 2004 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia wishes to clarify its position on the current law on Croatian Radio-Television (HRT) following a statement by Social Democratic Party Vice-President Zeljka Antunovic on 5 February in which she alleged that the current Law on Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) is in line with the OSCE and Council of Europe recommendations.

The present Law on HRT does not exclude the possibility for political interference in the work of the HRT. Though in many respects the Law is in line with the recommendations of the European experts, the initial implementation of the Law, in particular the protracted process of nomination and appointment of HRT Council members by Parliament, demonstrates there are shortcomings in the Law.

The experts opinion on the draft Law had recommended that there should be a larger role by civil society in the appointment of the Council members.

The OSCE Mission would like to stress that its position on the HRT Law is not a comment on the news programs on the HRT where there are no visible signs of political bias.