and again in 2023, when defamation was reintroduced into the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska. It has declined in the past three years, after the revised Criminal Code entered into effect. Nevertheless, when respondents in both entities were asked separately how much the possibility of criminal prosecution of journalists and editors had affected media freedom in Republika Srpska, a very high percentage answered that it had had a strong impact. This view is shared by 69,7% of citizens of the FBiH and 65,4% of citi ­zens of the RS. At the same time, 25,8% of respondents from Republika Srpska believe that it had no impact at all. Influence on the work of the media There is a high level of agreement between respondents from the FBiH and the RS on this issue: in 2026, politicians and political parties are perceived as having the greatest influence on the work of the media. When asked which factor has the second greatest influence on the work of the media, a discrepancy between the two entities becomes evident again. For respondents from the RS, this is the OHR and the international community, at 2,4%, while for respondents in the FBiH it is media owners and editors, at 18,6%. Among residents of the FBiH, only 1,5% believe that the OHR and the international community influence the work of the media, while among residents of the RS, media owners and editors are perceived as having the same level of influence on the work of the media as influential individ­uals and businesspeople, at 4,4%. When observing the period in which surveys were con­ducted on the factors influencing the work of domestic media, from 2018 to 2026, it is noticeable that, with the exception of last year and the high perception of the influ­ence of the international community among respondents in the RS, there has been continuity in almost all observed years in terms of the ranking of factors influencing the work of the media in BiH. There is also a high level of agreement that politicians and political parties have an absolutely dominant influence on the work of the media. Violations of journalists’ rights and freedoms Closely related to the previous question is the issue of the factors that are seen as leading in the violation of journal­ists’ rights and freedoms. For all respondents, these are clearly politicians and political parties. The same was true in 2025. Similarities to prior surveys can also be seen in attitudes toward the OHR and the international commu­nity, which respondents in the RS identify as the second most important factor in the violation of journalists’ rights and freedoms, although this percentage has halved com­pared with 2025. In the FBiH, only slightly more than 1% of citizens have a negative view of the OHR and the interna­tional community in this regard. For respondents in this entity, media owners and editors represent a much greater problem, at 17.4%. In the RS, this figure is only 6,3%, although this still represents an increase compared with last year. Religious communities, influential businesspeo­ple, and the NGO sector together barely exceed 5% of the perceived influence on the violation of journalists’ rights and freedoms. Attacks on journalists This issue deserves particular attention, as it shows a major and positive change compared with the previous period, especially 2023, when as many as 74% of respondents from Republika Srpska stated that attacks on journalists were sometimes justified. When the same question was asked in 2025, the response was unanimous: all respondents rejected any justification for attacks on journalists. Respondents hold a similar view this year as well. Criticism of political motivation Citizens’ dissatisfaction with the work of journalists and the media is mainly caused by the perception of a high degree of political motivation in their work. Journalists are often accused of favoring opposing parties by the politi­cians themselves, and a high percentage of citizens agree with such claims. Only 10% of citizens of BiH do not agree with this view, which is still twice as many as last year. This result was probably influenced by a decrease in the share of respondents from the Federation who did not know how to answer this question: last year this figure stood at 19.3%, while this year it is 13,9%. Looking at the entire period from 2018 to the present, the perception of political motivation in the work of journalists has been increasing. Improving journalistic work and the quality of reporting For this question, respondents were offered the following options: improving the financial position of journalists, improving their overall working conditions, improving the legal framework, improving the system of education for journalists and, finally, tightening the criteria for entering the journalism profession. At the level of BiH as a whole, respondents generally assign similar importance to all of these proposals. A slightly higher share believe that priority should be given to setting higher standards and criteria for entering journalism in the first place. This response is par­ticularly dominant in the FBiH, where it was selected by almost 80% of respondents, unlike in the RS, where the figure is 22,6%. For respondents in the RS, it is far more important to improve journalists’ working conditions and adopt laws that would protect their rights. The difference between the two entities is also reflected in attitudes toward the first proposed measure: 60% of citizens of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina believe that journal­ists’ material and financial conditions should be improved, while only 19% of citizens of the RS agree with this. Survey of media freedoms in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2026 7