Image: BHRT Offices

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has issued warnings about the financial situation of two European public service media outlets within just over a week. The organisation has criticised proposed new budget cuts at Flemish public broadcaster VRT and, separately, warned that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s public broadcaster BHRT is “on the brink of collapse”.

The most recent warning concerns Belgium’s VRT, which recently outlined its innovation strategy in an interview with TM BROADCAST, explaining that “we have to be ready for a world where content is not just consumed but actively engaged with through dialogue. In that context, there’s only one option: you have to join the conversation”.

VRT

On 1 October, the Flemish government announced financial plans that include further budget cuts for VRT. This marks the second time in just nine months that the government has breached VRT’s management contract, which took effect on 1 January 2026 and was agreed on 22 July 2025. The proposed cut of around €10 million by 2029 comes on top of the €16.6 million in savings VRT is already delivering as part of a far-reaching digital and future-focused programme, according to the EBU.

The EBU highlights that Article 5 of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) requires Member States to guarantee adequate, sustainable and predictable funding for public service media.

Noel Curran, EBU Director General, explains: “VRT is doing exactly what a public service media organisation should: delivering outstanding content and reach on one of the lowest funding levels in Western and Northern Europe. Demanding more cuts, on top of savings already under way, is indefensible. The EBU stands firmly with VRT and calls on the Flemish government to reconsider these cuts.”

According to the EBU, VRT receives 31.5% less public funding than it did 20 years ago, even as its remit has grown. At €3.70 per inhabitant per month, its funding is among the lowest in Western and Northern Europe, compared with €8.70 in Germany. Despite this, VRT reaches 90.6% of people in Flanders every week, including 86.7% of young people.

The EBU argues that decisions revisiting VRT’s agreed resources mid-contract raise questions about predictability and sustainability, as enshrined in the EMFA. The organisation is urging the Flemish government to consider the budget proposal in light of Belgium’s obligations under the EMFA before proceeding further.

BHRT

In a separate statement, the EBU warned that BHRT, the national public service broadcaster of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is “on the brink of collapse”.

The organisation recalls that the broadcaster “is unable to pay its staff and its suppliers. It can no longer operate normally. Two programmes have already been dropped for lack of funds, and its ability to report from across the country is being increasingly constrained. More than 750 journalists, producers, technicians and other staff face losing their jobs in a crisis they did not create”.

The warning came less than two weeks before the General Elections on 4 October 2026. The EBU said that the collapse of BHRT “would leave Bosnia and Herzegovina without national public service media at a sensitive moment for its democracy. It would also weaken the wider public broadcasting system and citizens’ right to reliable information”.

The organisation is calling on the Parliamentary Assembly and Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as all other competent authorities, to:

• Take immediate action to ensure BHRT can continue to operate.
• Implement existing legislation and final court decisions on public service media funding.
• Agree on a stable, adequate and independent funding model that ends these recurring crises.