BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
Jan 26, 2006
EU to Launch Independent Broadcasts to Belarus
Reuters
BRUSSELS - The European Commission named a German-led consortium on Thursday to broadcast independent news to Belarus, in a 2 million euro ($2.45 million) project to boost news coverage in a country it says faces serious press restrictions.
"The European Union is committed to doing all it can to support democratisation and human rights in Belarus," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.
"It will... make a real difference in the Belarusian media landscape, where independent journalists are under increasing pressure."
The West has been harshly critical of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, accusing him of establishing control over the media since coming to power in 1994, and saying independent journalists have been jailed or forced abroad.
Some opposition politicians and journalists have disappeared in the former Soviet republic, which favours close ties with Russia and limited contact with the West, amid fears they have been murdered for their views.
The consortium, led by Germany's Media Consult, includes Poland's European Radio for Belarus; Lithuania's Radio Baltic Wave; Russia's RTVi; and independent journalists, civil society and NGOs from Belarus.
Under the two-year project, it will start broadcasting by satellite from Germany next month in Belarusian and Russsian, and will broadcast special live radio and television programmes before and immediately after a March 19 presidential election.
The EU's executive Commission will not seek to influence the consortium's editorial policy, Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin told a news briefing.
"The journalists will be operating fully independently," she said. "It's not up to us what they're going to cover or what they're putting out. They will operate following their journalistic instincts."
Source:
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/6-1-26/37425.html
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