UNMIK/PR/13

Press Release

21 July 1999

UNMIK Sets out Plans for Revival and Development of RTP and Independent Media  in Kosovo

Statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General

UNMIK is acutely aware of the growing concern among media professionals and Kosovo’s people about the future of Radio-Television Pristina.  We wish to assure the people of  Kosovo that broadcasting at RTP will resume in the very near future under international supervision. 

Kosovo has spent many years under a virtual information blockade and its people have suffered as the objects of vicious propaganda.   During this time, enormous changes have fundamentally altered the media worldwide.  In Kosovo, there is a hunger for objective, credible information that can only be satisfied by media which reflect democratic principles and the power of new technologies. 

Protection of basic human rights, and economic and civic reconstruction in Kosovo will not be possible without modern, democratic media. 

Reforming RTP will be an essential part of transforming the media culture in Kosovo. Under Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), international officials in Kosovo are responsible for promoting the establishment of institutions of self-government, including the development of a democratic media.  The institution-building pillar of UNMIK, led by OSCE, is in the process of laying the foundation for RTP to become a genuine public service broadcaster that serves all the people of Kosovo.  UNMIK will appoint a Regulatory Commission to oversee the issuance of licenses, the allocation of frequencies and related matters.  In addition, it will establish an Independent Media Board in order to consult with Kosovo’s media professionals and civil society regarding the redesign of RTP, and to advise on all media-related issues such as a code of journalistic ethics and local media development.  An international Media Director will be appointed and will convene the Independent Media Board.

Extensive work is needed to rehabilitate RTP, to reform its programmes, management and staffing structures, while ensuring that it remains financially sound.  The final aim is to create a modern RTP which operates with professional Kosovar management and staff that serve and reflect Kosovo’s communities.