Cash Row May Silence Bosnia's TV and Radio

Bosnia's three state and entity radio and television stations risk going off air as political quarrels and conflicting views about their role block the passage of legislation needed to provide them with money.     
 
The three stations at risk are the national Radio-Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BHRT, and two entity broadcasters, Radio-Television of the Federation of BiH, RTVFBiH, and Radio-Television of Republika Srpska, RTRS.

All three could stop broadcasting after April 26, when the legal basis for their financing through landline phone bills expires.
 
Communication Minister Slavko Matanovic and representatives of the broadcasters have urged parliament to pass a temporary law extending the same financing modality for another six months until a new law on public radio and television systems can be adopted.  
 
"This law would prevent the financial collapse of the public radio and television broadcasters and give the new Council of Ministers [state government] time to adopt structural changes," Mirsad Mesic, an opposition Social Democratic Party MP, told parliament on Wednesday.
 
However, the proposed law - as well as the current work of public broadcasters - has faced strong criticism in parliament.

Although most MPs in the state parliament voted for it, it was finally rejected because it failed to win a majority in the assembly of Republika Srpska, Bosnia's mainly Serbian entity.
 
The vote as well as the rest of Wednesday's state parliament session showed that financing the public broadcasters was the least important issue.  
 
Lengthy debates highlighted deep personal, political and ideological divisions among all key parties.
 
MPs from the main Serbian opposition party, the...