The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), said on Thursday it was surprised by the Croatian Electronic Media Council's warning to the RTL TV station that Serbian-language programmes must be subtitled into Croatian, otherwise it would lose its operating licence.
On January 19, RTL had to change its schedule and not broadcast a Serbian TV series but announced that it would contest the Council's decision in court, saying other TV channels broadcast series in Serbian and Bosniak without subtitles.
SEEMO Secretary-General Oliver Vujic said he was surprised by the Council's decision, adding that if RTL was the only one that had to adhere to that rule, the decision was discriminatory. He said subtitling would significantly increase costs which could be spent on improving cultural, sports and other programmes.
Vujic said the warning seriously sullied the credibility of the Electronic Media Council.
In a statement, SEEMO quoted sociolinguist Ivo Zanic as saying the Council's decision was legal but stupid and that films from the territory of the former Yugoslavia, from the linguistic point of view, should be excluded from the 'foreign film' category.
