The initiative for opening a whole new public TV channel just for the minorities, particularly for the Serbian minority, has won wide support in Kosovo. This project should meet professional standards and be financially stable, was the conclusion of a meeting organized by the Independent Media Commission, attended by the representatives of international organizations and the Kosovo media representatives.

Astrit Salihu, advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, said that the most appropriate way for creating a TV channel for minorities is to make it part of the current public broadcaster, RTK. “The best way to form a channel in the Serbian language is if the channel is integrated into RTK as the second channel of RTK. Most programming in RTK2 would be in Serbian,” said Salihu.

Kosova Serbs and other minorities need a TV channel, in which their interests would be represented, something that has not happened with the current local channels broadcasting in Serbian in Kosovo, said a Kosovo Serb representative. “It is unfortunate that there was no earlier initiative for opening the Serbian channel. I think that this is a good idea. I do not reject the idea of opening the second RTK channel, but we also need to discuss other ideas which would be in the interest of minorities in Kosovo.”

Representatives of international organizations in Kosovo presented some draft projects with alternatives for opening this channel. One of the projects says that a joint network of local Serb TV channels should be formed.

UNDP officials said that they have analyzed the idea of opening the second RTK channel. According to them, RTK leaders have expressed readiness to finalize this project.

Chairman of the RTK board, Vjosa Dobruna, said that this idea has existed for many years. “I believe that RTK as a public institution meets the European standards. In the European concept, public broadcasting is independent broadcasting. It is difficult to broadcast shows in five languages on one single channel,” complained Vjosa Dobruna.

RTK broadcasts in Albanian, Serbia, Bosnian, Turkish and Roma languages. It currently has only one TV channel and two radio channels, one of which is dedicated mainly to the minorities.

The idea of opening the second RTK TV channel is to give minorities a fair opportunity to broadcast their news, documentaries, and shows in their native language, which would fullfil their needs. The current RTK TV channel already gives minorities a few hours of broadcast in their languages.