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At today's meeting in Sarajevo of the Steering
Board of the Peace Implementation Council, it was agreed that the Parties must
urgently create the necessary conditions for the conduct of free and fair
elections with respect to equitable access to the media for all political
parties and candidates. In view of the election timetable, it is essential that
the appropriate Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation and Republika Srpska
authorities immediately begin fulfilling their obligations, under the General Framework Agreement for
Peace, in relation to the media, freedom of expression and of the press, and
freedom of movement.
In light of the influence and dominance of television in the former
Yugoslavia, this medium should be given priority. The same principles must,
however, also apply to the print media.
I
The appropriate authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation and
Republika Srpska and their respective state broadcasters must ensure that all
political parties and election candidates are given fair access to the state
media. Principally, they must take immediate steps to improve access for
opposition parties and candidates on all aspects of news and current affairs
programming.
The Media Experts Commission established by the Provisional Election
Commission will carefully monitor the media and the quality and substance of
news reporting as well as the performance of the media in providing equitable
access for all political parties and election candidates.
In this context, the project for setting up a second, independent TV network
must not be made conditional on any extraneous factors. A formal application for
the use of the second network will be submitted to the government of Bosnia and
Herzegovina before the end of April and it is expected that this would be
approved early in May.
All interested journalists, programme producers and broadcasters must be
given the opportunity to take part in the work of this network. The full
transmission of its programming must be permitted throughout Bosnia and
Herzegovina, in both entities. The appropriate authorities must ensure that
licences and frequencies for electronic and print media are granted promptly and
on a non-political basis.
II
The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation and Republika
Srpska are fully aware of their obligations, and will be held accountable. In
the event that any of the Parties fails to meet its obligations, alternative
means will be pursued to ensure free and fair media access. A step being
considered would be for IFOR, in accordance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, to
requisition for their own use the necessary frequencies to allow programming
form affiliate stations to be received by citizens in both entities.
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