Chronic financial crisis and funding collapse
BHRT's modern history is a chronicle of survival amid existential threats stemming from a deliberately sabotaged and dysfunctional funding model. The public broadcasting system is funded by a monthly license fee (RTV tax of 7.5 KM as of 2025), collected via electricity bills and distributed as 50% to BHRT, 25% to RTVFBiH, and 25% to RTRS.[8][15] This model has completely broken down, creating a permanent state of insolvency for the state-level broadcaster.
The primary cause of the crisis is the systemic withholding of funds. RTRS, which collects the tax on its territory, has for years refused to transfer BHRT's 50% share. By 2025, this debt had ballooned to over 100 million KM, despite rulings from the Constitutional Court of BiH and the Supreme Court of RS confirming the practice is illegal.[16][17][18] Concurrently, politicians from parties like the HDZ BiH and SNSD have openly encouraged non-payment of the tax in the Federation, leading to a collection rate of only around 50.58% in the first half of 2025.[14][19]
The system's central coordinating body, the System Board, has been paralyzed by political disputes and has not functioned effectively for years.[14] Its inactivity since 2019 has frozen the RTV tax rate at 2013 levels, causing significant real-term revenue loss. The managements of BHRT and RTVFBiH estimated this was costing them a combined 300,000 KM per month as of 2025. In September 2025, the two broadcasters held a joint session, publicly declaring the situation "economically unsustainable" and calling for external intervention, as internal resolution was impossible.[20]
As a direct result, BHRT has accumulated catastrophic debts: over 21 million KM to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), 9.6 million KM in VAT, 1.5 million KM to the state electricity company, and over 50 million KM in unpaid salaries and contributions to its employees.[16][21][22] The EBU has threatened to block BHRT's accounts and seize its assets if the debt is not resolved by February 2026.[16]
BHRT has faced near-shutdown scenarios repeatedly (e.g., 2015, 2016, 2022, 2024).[23][24] BHRT was supposed to suspend its operations from 1 July 2016, a date selected on purpose because of its commitments to the annual anniversary memorial of the Srebrenica massacre and its coverage of UEFA Euro 2016, but it was meant to be provisional.[25] The crisis reached an unprecedented peak in 2025. In June, the BHRT Board of Directors warned that "in this media house, the lights have truly already been turned off and it's a question of days when complete darkness will come." [26] By November 2025, Acting General Director Belmin Karamehmedović condemned the political inaction, stating that the Parliament was "doing nothing to help" and warning of the broadcaster's imminent collapse in its 80th year.[27] This political disregard was starkly demonstrated when the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a draft state budget for 2025 that excluded any financial assistance for BHRT, prompting a desperate appeal for survival from the broadcaster's Independent Trade Union.[28]
Following the budget's adoption, the political hostility towards BHRT was laid bare. MInister Amidžić shifted the blame for the crisis onto the broadcaster's own management, publicly stating, "You know where the solution is, fire the incompetent management that has done what it's done," and comparing BHRT's request for state aid to an Italian broadcaster asking the BiH government for help. Meanwhile, Sanja Vulić, a member of parliament from the SNSD, stated her party had "nothing against" the European Union paying BHRT's debt, but that using state funds would be an unacceptable transfer of competencies, arguing that cultural institutions like BHRT were "not a constituent part of the Constitution."[30]
Political interference and editorial pressure
Beyond the structural funding issues, BHRT and the public broadcasting system are plagued by internal mismanagement and deep-seated political interference. A 2024 report described the broadcasters as "hostages of political interests," citing non-transparent business practices, inadequate management, and political influence over editorial policy.[31]
The Board of Directors, whose members are appointed by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, has been accused of acting as a "Trojan horse" for political parties, with a history of pressuring and dismissing senior managers and editors. Despite legal mandates, the central coordinating body for the system, the Corporation of Public Broadcasters, has never been established due to political blockades, primarily from parties in Republika Srpska and Croatian-nationalist parties, preventing any systemic reform.[31]
The leadership of both BHRT and RTVFBiH have been criticized for operating their services as private fiefdoms, with their management tenures often extending far beyond their legal mandates due to political deadlock over appointments.[31]
BHRT has been a constant target of political pressure from nationalist parties across the ethnic divide. The most direct attacks have come from officials in Republika Srpska.
Internal system conflict
The relationship between the three broadcasters was often antagonistic. In May 2024, BHRT cut FTV's signal for several hours, accusing it of not paying for transmission services. FTV responded by filing criminal charges against BHRT's management, and a local court quickly ordered BHRT to restore the signal, forcing it to provide services without payment. This also made BHRT temporarily suspend 15 of their shows, shortening some as well.[36] This dispute was rooted in significant inter-entity debt; by 2025, BHRT claimed that RTVFBiH owed it over 14 million KM for services rendered, while RTRS's debt for unpaid tax shares exceeded 95 million KM.[26]
Digitalisation standoff
The transition to Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation (DVB-T2) in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been one of the most delayed and politically obstructed technological reforms in Europe, spanning over 15 years. The process has been characterized by missed international deadlines, political blockades, and technical decay.
The process was officially launched with the goal of switching from analog to digital broadcasting by the international deadline of June 17th 2015. In 2013, the Ministry of Transport and Communications announced ambitious plans, aiming to have the first phase of digitalization ready for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the entire country covered by the 2015 deadline.[37] BHRT successfully completed the first phase of digitizing its production capacities using its own funds by the end of 2014.[38] However, the project to build the nationwide transmission network was paralyzed. Former BHRT director Mehmed Agović identified "obstructions from Republika Srpska" as the main obstacle, accusing the entity's authorities of preventing the installation of purchased equipment on RTRS facilities and the Council of Ministers of blocking the spending of already approved funds.[39]
As a result, Bosnia and Herzegovina became the only country in Europe to miss the June 17th, 2015 deadline.
Physical decay and obsolete infrastructure
The financial crisis is visibly etched into the very fabric of the Broadcasting House, known as the "Grey House" (bos. Sivi dom). A 2016 report described a state of advanced decay, with the building's interior and its equipment reflecting decades of underinvestment. Much of the technical apparatus in use dates back to the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, with staff forced to creatively combine and repair obsolete analog equipment to produce a modern broadcast signal.[50]
Employees refer to the old equipment as "museum pieces," noting that while TVSA was once a regional leader in TV production, it had fallen "below everyone" due to a complete lack of funds for modernization. Report vehicles purchased for the Olympics stand idle or are cannibalized for parts, with crews often having to move cameras between the studio and the vehicles to function. Large sections of the 30,000-square-meter building remain unfinished and unused since its original construction, with UNHCR foil still on the windows and visible scars from the war. Despite the conditions, staff maintained a sense of dedication, with one technician stating, "A little enthusiasm and desire still keeps us going. We don't ask if the salary was paid or when it will be, we just work."[50]
Cascading systemic collapse
The financial crisis extends beyond the broadcaster's survival, posing a direct and immediate threat to Bosnia and Herzegovina's fundamental telecommunication infrastructure. BHRT is legally mandated to maintain the country's network of transmission repeaters.
The most critical of these is Hum Tower, on Mount Hum in Sarajevo. Heavily damaged during the war and now operating with obsolete equipment over 30 years old, the tower is the linchpin of the national broadcast system. The facility also houses equipment from critical state agencies, including the Border Service, the Agency for Identification Documents, and private internet providers.[51][27]
In 2024, BHRT management issued a grave warning that "the survival of the Hum repeater is in question" due to a catastrophic lack of funds for essential maintenance and renovations. The station's manager emphasized that any failure at Hum would lead to a nationwide broadcast blackout, warning that "the entire BiH would be left without a signal."[51]
The collapse of BHRT would trigger a chain reaction, crippling other broadcasters and vital state services. The broadcaster's management has warned that Federal Television (FTV) and Canton Television Sarajevo
European Union's stance
The crisis at BHRT has drawn significant concern from the international community, particularly the European Union, which has framed its survival as a test of Bosnia and Herzegovina's democratic credentials. In November 2025, Luigi Soreca, the head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH, stated that the country "which aspires to EU membership cannot be the only one in Europe without a state public service." He described the situation as an existential threat caused by political irresponsibility and a conscious neglect of legal obligations by institutions and political leaders.
Soreca emphasized that the political independence and financial sustainability of public broadcasters are not a mere formality but a "fundamental condition for the functioning of a democratic state" and a clear priority on Bosnia's European path. He called on domestic authorities to immediately address the most urgent issues, including the debt to the EBU, and to undertake systemic reforms to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the entire public broadcasting system, stating that "the preservation of BHRT is a test of political maturity."[52]
Symbolic of the state's survival
Analysts and public figures have framed this multifaceted crisis not as a series of unfortunate events, but as a deliberate political strategy to dismantle state-level institutions. Prominent film director Dino Mustafić, who began his career at BHRT, argued that the collapse is a conscious act, writing: "The shutdown of BHRT is not a technical issue. It is a blow to the collective memory, to the citizens' right to know, to the very idea that the state exists as a common project." He and others have placed direct responsibility on the Presidency of BiH, the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, and the Parliamentary Assembly for their refusal to act, while identifying the policies of the SNSD and HDZ BiH as fundamentally aimed at the "ethnicization of media" and the undermining of a shared public space. This perspective holds that the struggle for BHRT is symbolic of the larger struggle for the state itself, with Mustafić warning that allowing its failure would be an "unprecedented generational shame" and the achievement of a strategic goal for those who desire the final end of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[53]
Possibility of shutting down
On 26 February 2026, BHT1 halted all programming and replaced it with the following message: Today, BHRT is not airing its regular programming.
This is a warning about the consequences and the absence of a systemic solution and the possible permanent shutdown of your public service.
Without an urgent decision from the competent authorities, BHRT faces the blocking of its account and the cessation of its basic function of public service in the interest of its citizens.
News bulletins will be aired as part of the schedule. [54]
If the closure happens, Bosnia and Herzegovina will become the first country in Europe to lack a public broadcasting system.[2]
