Greek public broadcasting minister, Pantelis Kapsis, promised EBU Members this morning (10 October) that the entity that eventually replaces dissolved broadcaster ERT will be free of political interference and built without repeating “past mistakes”.

During a speech in Athens to the annual EBU Legal & Public Affairs Assembly, Mr Kapsis insisted that the future broadcaster’s independence was assured by a newly adopted media law, whose “major characteristic is the severance of the link between the government and the running of public television”.

The minister also vouched for the new body’s provisional Board of Trustees, which he said was manned by “successful professionals whose independence has not been questioned – even by critics of our project”.

“From now on, the government will not to be able to intervene in any way, as it is up to the Board of Trustees to run all necessary procedures, even for its own replacement by a new Board,” Mr Kapsis assured the Assembly.

Mr Kapsis admitted that the sudden closure of ERT on 11 June was a “very sensitive issue” for everybody, including himself, but he urged his audience of EBU Members not to dwell on the past and to move on.

He asserted that the Greek crisis and its unique political situation presented an “opportunity” to create a stronger public service broadcaster in Greece. The new broadcaster will have to reflect the country’s economic crisis. However, any savings, he said, would be made with the intention of creating a healthier broadcaster that puts out quality programming.

He added: “We have a unique opportunity in Greece to create a new public television that is independent from the government… technology friendly, favours initiative, and is free from the rigidities imposed by a culture of entitlements. The only way to prevent political interference is to have a stronger public broadcaster loved by its people”.

He went on to say that the new public broadcaster needs to be even more European. Being a part of the EBU community, and being brought into contact with other European broadcasters, will help Greece’s public service broadcaste broaden its perspective and learn from best practices.

Mr Kapsis concluded that his team was glad of the EBU’s help in making the most of this opportunity, and that the new broadcaster, referred to as NERIT, would seek to take advantage of the EBU’s role as a facilitator of European coproductions, best practices and editorial standards.