CVIJANOVIĆ: I DID NOT VOTE FOR CONCLUSIONS ON BHRT BECAUSE THEY ARE BIASED, ONE-SIDED AND AS SUCH UNACCEPTABLE

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, JANUARY 27 /SRNA/ – Serb member of the Presidency of BiH Željka Cvijanović told SRNA that at today’s extraordinary session she voted against the conclusions related to BHRT and was outvoted, because the adopted conclusions are biased, one-sided and therefore unacceptable.

“It is obvious that /BiH Presidency member Denis/ Bećirović did not request the session with the aim of resolving the problem, but rather to attempt to place the entire blame for the situation at BHRT on Republika Srpska and Radio Television of Republika Srpska /RTRS/,” Cvijanović told SRNA when asked to comment on today’s extraordinary session of the Presidency and the adoption of conclusions on BHRT.

Cvijanović explained that Bećirović’s conclusions, which were also supported by Željko Komšić, fail to mention that BHRT and Federal Television have not paid RTRS funds generated from marketing revenues.

“Not a single word was said about the fact that in parts of FBiH the collection of the RTV licence fee does not function at all, nor was any solution offered for that problem.

Some evidently believe that Republika Srpska and its citizens should finance public broadcasters to a greater extent, although this is a shared obligation,” Cvijanović emphasized.

According to her, part of the responsibility for the current situation also lies in the fact that BHRT independently and unlawfully decided to exercise certain rights and to conclude expensive contracts for the realization of specific sports and cultural programme content.

In any case, Cvijanović stressed, the problem of BHRT is far more complex than Bećirović is attempting to portray.

“It must be viewed in a comprehensive manner and resolved through responsible dialogue among competent institutions at all levels of government, rather than being abused for political purposes,” Cvijanović concluded.

At the extraordinary session of the BiH Presidency, held at Bećirović’s request, conclusions related to BHRT were adopted by outvoting the Serb member of the Presidency.

In the adopted conclusions, Bećirović and Komšić, among other things, consider that the main cause of the situation at BHRT is the “violation of the Law on the Public Broadcasting Service of BiH and other related regulations by the Public Broadcasting Service of Republika Srpska.”