OSCE to Assess Media Freedom in Bosnia

Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Sarajevo, 5 February: OSCE representative for media freedom Miklos Harasti has agreed in a meeting with High Representative Christian Schwarz-Schilling to make an independent assessment of the media situation in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the OHR [Office of the High Representative] has said.

The statement said that Schwarz-Schilling and Harasti had voiced their satisfaction at the fact that the [Bosnian] Serb Republic government had withdrawn its earlier decision to boycott BHT1 [public broadcaster].

“The authorities in democratic societies should never ignore the rights of the media and prevent them from attending news conference,” said the OSCE representative for media freedom who is on a three-day visit to Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Schwarz-Schilling pointed out that freedom of the media was of crucial importance for the development of sustainable democracy.

“By drawing up a report focusing on TV, you will help promote the environment in which the media in Bosnia-Hercegovina are operating at a time when the international community is preparing to change the nature of its engagement,” the High Representative said.

The statement recalls that the OHR and OSCE have been working jointly since 1998 in the area of media freedom, as well as in the areas of free access to the media, adoption of a libel law, and media regulation through the Regulatory Agency for Communications and the Press Council.

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