Sarajevo, 12.4.2025. – The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association calls on the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) to return the election and appointment of members of the Board of Directors of the Public Service Broadcaster of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RTVFBiH) to the legal framework and harmonize them with the values of the public broadcasting system in the manner defined by the standards of the Council of Europe and the European Union.
It is completely unacceptable for BH Journalists that the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament votes on the appointment of four members of the RTVFBiH Board of Directors contrary to the provisions of the current Law on the Public Service of RTVFBiH, especially Articles 24, 25 and 65, reducing the entire process to political goals and ignoring the legal obligation to select the best candidates in a “fair, open and transparent” manner. Also, the House of Representatives lacked a comprehensive discussion on the professional competencies and experience of the selected candidates, their political independence, understanding of the mission of public broadcasting, as well as guarantees that they will manage this public media in a responsible manner in the interest of the public, and not desirable policies.
The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association assesses as particularly harmful the undisguised interference of the parties of the ruling coalition in this entire process, as well as political trading and linking the election of the best candidates for members of the management of RTVFBiH with political agreements on other legal solutions or decisions. Absurd and legally untenable was the explanation of the ruling “Troika” that the appointment of members of the Board of Directors of RTVFBiH “outside the law” was an attempt to solve the legally questionable activities of RTVFBiH, which for more than a decade has not had a general director and management in a full legal mandate.
Equally problematic was the effort of the political opposition in the House of Representatives to treat the election of the RTVFBiH Board of Directors not in the context of the competence, expertise and professional integrity of each candidate, but as a matter of the survival of the state or an act of patriotism. Such an approach resulted in the anathematization of one of the candidates – journalist Zoran Krešić, who was sent numerous insults, even hateful messages in the parliamentary benches, and later in public speech and on social networks. The Board of Directors of BH Journalists condemns ad hominem insults to journalist Krešić, and we call on all those who consider his comments about HZ “Herceg Bosna” and the recent war past illegal and socially harmful to react in accordance with the applicable legislation and (self-)regulatory rules for the media.
Bearing in mind the importance of the existence of a politically independent and professionally responsible public service of the Federation of BiH, the The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association appeals to the delegates of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of the FBiH to return the entire process to the legal framework during the final decision on the appointment of members of the Board of Directors of RTVFBiH, to free it from political and ideological connotations, and to focus on the discussion of the professional biographies of all four candidates, their expertise and capacity to manage public media in the interest of all peoples and citizens of this entity.
The Steering Committee of BH Journalists Association