An article published by the Kosovo public broadcaster, Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK, alleging that two Kosovo-based media outlets were illicitly financed by Serbia, has drawn criticism from journalists and politicians.

RTK on Tuesday announced the establishment of a commission to investigate editorial responsibility for the publication of the article from a Bosnian media outlet, Slobodna Bosna.

Meanwhile, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, accused the ruling Vetevendosje party of using it to launch a smear campaign against the two Kosovo media outlets.

The article, which RTK published on Monday, alleged that two local media outlets, Nacionale and Periskopi, had received problematic funding from the Serbian authorities, and that one was controlled by controversial Kosovo Serb kingpin Milan Radoicic.

Radoicic is wanted in Kosovo for several criminal cases. Radoicic has admitted leading the September 2023 attack by a gang of armed Serbs in the village of Banjska in the north of Kosovo, in which one Kosovo policeman was killed, but he remains free in Serbia.

He became vice president of the Belgrade-backed party representing Kosovo Serbs, Srpska Lista, in June 2018 and is considered to be the real powerbroker in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo. He is also wanted in Kosovo in connection with a corruption case involving illegal construction in the Brezovica mountain resort area.

An indictment in the case of the murdered Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic mentioned Radoicic as one of the prime suspects leading the organised crime group that murdered him, although he has not been indicted.

He was blacklisted by the US in December 2021 for alleged involvement in organised crime.

After an RTK closed meeting that lasted several hours, on Tuesday, the RTK board expressed regret for the publication on July 22 of the article, “although RTK did not mention them [the Kosovo media outlets] in any report”.

After publication of the article, officials from the ruling Vetevendosje party started what Kosovo’s Association of Journalists, AJK, deemed a smear campaign against the two media outlets.

The director of RTK, Rilind Gervalla, however, said that “nobody should feel concerned about transparency”.

“Let there be transparency and all of us can calm down,” he told BIRN. “Serbia, Russia and China are a concern for Kosovo, which we will not hide. When someone does good reporting, we cannot turn a blind eye,” urging the authorities to continue investigations to probe the claims made by Slobodna Bosna.

“We cannot hide reports from the public,” he said, insisting that RTK had not published the names of the two media.

Screenshots shared by Vetevendosje MP Salih Zyba contain the name of two media outlets in Kosovo. In the news item on the RTK website, however, the names of the media outlets do not appear.

Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu said she has sent the article to the prosecution to investigate. But the AJK called Haxhiu’s action “scandalous”, claiming she had attacked the media and had interfered in the justice system.

By the time of publication, AJK has critricised the posts of at least three Vetevendosje MPs and one senior official, condemning an alleged smear campaign against the two media.

Several civil society organisations have called for the resignation of the RTK board.