The Serbian media in Kosovo rejected on Aug. 12 Pristina's proposal to found a new television channel devoted to Kosovo's Serbs, saying that the proposed solution contravened international and local regulations.

The Kosovo and Metohija Journalists' Society - a branch of the Journalists' Association of Serbia, TV Mreza and KOSMA, which consists of Serbian broadcasters in Kosovo, believes that the bill on public broadcasting, which is currently in the Kosovo Assembly, is unacceptable for the Serbian community.

"From the text of the draft law, it is not deducible that the new channel belongs to the Serbian community and its members, as it is unequivocally said in the Kosovo Constitution and the Ahtisaari Plan," these organizations claimed.

The new channel would be part of the current public service broadcaster Radio Television Kosovo (RTK), without the guarantee that it will respond to the specific needs of the community and contribute to Serbs being better informed.

The widening of the current RTK Board of Directors to include members from the Serb and other minority communities cannot be considered to be a satisfactory and reliable control mechanism for realizing the rights of the community, a statement said.