Kosovo: Authorities must guarantee funding for public broadcaster RTK

For several months, public broadcaster Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) has been facing a severe financial crisis as a result of the deliberate failure of the country's institutions to allocate the legally approved budget. The International and the European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) join their affiliate the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) in calling on authorities to guarantee funding for Kosovo's public broadcaster RTK.

Credit: RTK.

The warning that RTK may run out of funding within days and be unable to pay its employees for the month of July is alarming.

In the absence of a functional Parliamentary Assembly, the IFJ, EFJ and AJK call on the government of Kosovo to take the necessary steps to ensure continued funding for RTK.

Journalists, cameramen, and other RTK staff must be able to perform their work without interference from political or financial pressures.

"AJK is deeply concerned by the consequences of a potential scenario in which RTK is left viably without budget, " said Xhemajl Rexha, AJK chairperson and EFJ Honorary Treasurer. "It would mean no salaries for some 700 employees, and a potential disruption of news and programs that are of importance to the public. We are following closely and urge the Kosovo government to take necessary steps to avoid the worst".

"We hope that the Kosovo authorities will undertake urgent measures to enable the appropriate work of public media, in line with European standards, which requires guarantees of longer term funding, stable governance, sustainability and decent working conditions," added the EFJ President Maja Sever.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger added: "We are deeply troubled by the non-allocation of the legally approved budget, which is seriously jeopardising the functioning of Kosovo's public broadcaster and the well-being of its employees. The government must urgently unblock the budget and guarantee the future of RTK and decent working conditions for its staff."