Banja Luka court orders further account freeze on RTRS over 2.5 million marks debt to BHRT

This marks the third enforceable court judgment rendered by courts in Republika Srpska in favour of BHRT.

Under the initial enforceable ruling regarding a debt of 5.5 million marks (approx. €2.81 million), RTRS accounts were previously blocked in July this year. A second ruling followed in September, when the Supreme Court of Republika Srpska granted BHRT's appeal and reversed a lower court ruling, ordering RTRS to pay 15.5 million marks (approx. €7.93 million). In total, courts in Republika Srpska have ruled that RTRS owes BHRT approximately 23.5 million marks (approx. €12.02 million).

RTRS stated that the account freezes have pushed the public broadcaster of Republika Srpska into total collapse.

"Beyond bringing workers to the brink of existence, our operations have been rendered almost completely impossible. Programme production and the broadcast licence fee collection system are severely compromised. The breakdown of the collection system due to account freezes also endangers the collection of funds intended to settle debt under these court rulings," RTRS stated.

The broadcaster added that the public broadcasting system under the current legislation functions as interconnected vessels that risk collapsing all three public service outlets, warning of further escalation when RTRS claims against Federal Television come due. RTRS called on all government levels and relevant authorities to urgently resolve the survival of public broadcasters and establish a new legal framework.