Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr Nikola Špirić, and Delegate Radovan Kovačević meet with OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

"Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH), Dr Nikola Špirić, and Delegate in the House of Peoples, Radovan Kovačević, met today with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr Jan Braathu.

The main topics of the meeting concerned media freedoms and legislation regulating this area.

Speaker Špirić recalled that the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted a new Law on Freedom of Access to Information last year, aligned with European standards, noting that other related legislation falls under the jurisdiction of the entity authorities.

The participants agreed that economic sustainability remains a challenge for the media sector due to a larger market, non-transparent ownership structures, new working methods through modern technologies, and other factors.

Kovačević, also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Delegation to the OSCE, emphasised that media-related legislation in Republika Srpska complies with the standards of other European countries.

The discussion highlighted the necessity of internal dialogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina across all sectors, as the only way for reforms to succeed, including in the media sector and particularly regarding the establishment of a public broadcasting system." (Statement from the Office of the Speaker of the House of Peoples, Dr Nikola Špirić)