Home > 2.5 Election campaign > KOSOVO - Law on General Elections in the Republic of Kosovo
 
 
 
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Article 49
 

1. Political advertising spots shall be no longer than two (2) minutes (120 seconds).



2. Broadcasters which choose to air paid political advertising are required to offer a minimum
number of minutes of free airtime to each certified political entity during the campaign period
as following:


2.1. twenty (20) minutes for private Kosovo-wide television broadcasters;



2.2. fourty (40) minutes for the Public Service Television Broadcaster;



2.3. fifteen (15) minutes for private Kosovo-wide radio stations;



2.4. thirty (30) minutes for each of the two Public Service Radio Channels;



2.5. fifteen (15) minutes for all other television stations;



2.6. ten (10) minutes for all other radio stations.


3. This free airtime may be provided at the discretion of individual broadcasters, in the form
of participation in debates, discussion shows, interviews outside of regular scheduled news
programs, or as free political advertising spots.



4. Coverage in regularly scheduled news programs shall not be counted as free airtime.
5. No political advertising spots shall air within news programs. For the purposes of this Article,
news programs are defined to include sports and weather components of news broadcasts.



6. Broadcasters shall ensure that any political advertising spot is clearly identified as such and
shall clearly indicate the organization or individual responsible for it.



7. Broadcasters are required to keep separate daily logs, provided by the IMC, of free access
provided and advertising time sold to each certified political entity. These logs are to be prepared
and submitted weekly to the IMC in accordance with the instructions provided. These logs shall
be open for public inspection upon receipt.



8. Broadcasters which choose to air paid political advertising shall offer one week prior to the
start of the campaign period an unbiased and equitable schedule of free air time, for political
advertising spots, in writing to all certified political entities.



9. Broadcasters shall not be penalized if a certified political entity fails to use time provided on
fair and equitable terms.



10. The total time of aired free political advertising spots on one broadcaster shall have a
maximum of twenty (20) minutes per certified political entity.


11. Broadcasters which choose to air paid political advertising but fail to offer the minimum
required free air time to certified political entities over the course of the campaign period shall
be considered in violation of this Law.



12. Private broadcasters which choose not to air paid political advertising time to any certified
political entity are not required to offer the minimum free airtime as specified in paragraph 2 of
this Article.



13. Private broadcasters which choose not to air paid political advertising but do offer free
airtime to any certified political entity shall provide similar free airtime to all certified political
entities.



14. The price per second charged for paid political advertising spots shall be no higher than the
lowest rate charged for that time and day of the week in the past six (6) months.