EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre has urged swift adoption of a new media law for Kosovo and expressed hope that Radio Television Kosovo may serve as an example for other broadcasters in South East Europe.

Ms Deltenre met the President of the Kosovo Assembly, the Independent Media Commission, Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuqi and international organizations including the OSCE, the European Commission and the International Civilian 0ffice in the Kosovo capital Pristina on 7-8 December.

The EBU DG said the draft law met EBU standards and should be enacted as soon as possible to give RTK security of funding and facilitate long-term planning. The changes would see RTK financed for a transitional period of three years from a guaranteed share of the country's budget.

Established in 1999 by the EBU under an international mandate, RTK has been financed by direct government grant since Kosovo's constitutional court ruled two years ago that a system of licence fees was illegal.

Ms Deltenre said that the question of how to fund a public service broadcaster was a matter for national government consideration. The key was that adequate financing be guaranteed over a number of years, independent of any change in government. She said that a model incorporating a fixed share of VAT receipts may be a model worth consideration in Kosovo.

The EBU DG also highlighted the value of establishing a channel for Kosovo's Serbian minority within RTK - and not as a separate entity. She cited the four language channels operated by Swiss Broadcasting and the Swedish channel run by Finland's YLE as examples of public broadcasters which serve minority interests while maintaining national cohesion.

Deputy Prime Minister Kuqi stressed the Kosovo government's commitment to securing RTK as an independent and functioning Public Service Broadcaster operating to international standards and thanked the EBU for its support.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008.