Lucerne, 4 May 2011- Today the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) signed a new agreement with Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK), which allows the public broadcaster to make use of various EBU services including, but not limited to, access to television programmes. The agreement underlines the EBU's commitment to public service broadcasting in the region.

The signing ceremony took place today in Lucerne in the context of the Eurovision TV Summit. The RTK delegation was headed by the President of the RTK Board of Directors, Mr Rrahman Paçarizi and the Director General, Mr Sylejman Shaqiri. The EBU was represented by its President, Mr Jean-Paul Philippot, and Director General Ms Ingrid Deltenre.

Following the breakup of ex-Yugoslavia, the EBU was mandated in September 1999 by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to set up and run RTK. The broadcaster first went on air for only two hours per evening, broadcasting from the badly damaged premises of the former Radio and Television Pristina. RTK was set up to supply impartial news and information, which all players believed was crucial for a successful transition to peace and democracy. RTK was formally founded as a legal entity in 2001.

Today, RTK broadcasts both on terrestrial and satellite networks and includes one television and two radio stations, Radio Kosova and Radio Blue Sky, as well as its web page, www.rtklive.com. RTK produces and broadcasts its programmes in five languages: Albanian, Serbian, Turkish, Bosnian, and Roma, appealing to all audiences with a wide range of programmes.

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