Bosnia-Herzegovina

[BA] Mandate of RTRS' Board of Governors Extended

IRIS 2000-3:1/8

Dusan Babic

Media Analyst, Sarajevo

On 1 March 2000, the High Representative (HR), Mr Petritsch, extended the mandate of the Radio-Televizija Republike Srpske (RTRS) Board of Governors until a date still to be determined by the HR himself. Mr Petritsch was forced to issue this decision because the Government of the Republic Srpska (RS) failed to introduce a new and comprehensive law on public radio-television of RS that would meet the standards laid down by the amendments that the HR had made to the former law by his Decision of 31 August 1999 (see IRIS 1999-10: 11). Since the deadline for the adoption of a new law expired at the end of February 2000, the HR had to extend the mandate of the Board of Governors. He did, however, express his deep disappointment that the RS National Assembly was not making sufficient endeavours to reach European standards in public service broadcasting.