MOVING TOWARDS A PROPER PUBLIC
SERVICE BROADCASTING IN YUGOSLAVIA

STRASBOURG, 08.12.2000 – On Sunday 10 December 2000, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica is to open a conference on the operation of the media in a democratic society, jointly organised by the Council of Europe and ANEM (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia’s network of independent radio/TV stations).The conference will be held in Belgrade at the Intercontinental Hotel. President Kostunica will be accompanied by Federal Telecommunications Minister Boris Tadic, Federal Information Secretary Slobodan Orlic, and Serbian Information Co-Minister Biserka Matic.

Yugoslav and Council of Europe experts will be meeting from 10 to 12 December to identify what needs to be done to transform the present state broadcaster (RTS) into a proper public service. They will also be looking at the regulatory framework within which private electronic media have to operate in the FRY.

Participants will focus on the allocation of radio and television frequencies and licences, as well as on the roles, organisation and financing of a public service. The morning of Tuesday 12 December will be spent discussing recommendations and conclusions on measures to be taken to achieve a transition to a system of democratic electronic media in the FRY. Pierre-Henri Imbert, the Council of Europe’s Director General of Human Rights, will make the closing address to the conference.

The conference will be open to the press.

Contacts in Belgrade:

Mario Oetheimer, Council of Europe Programme Adviser

Mobile phone: +33/(0)6 72 75 42 64

Aleksandra Beric, Radio B2 92, Tel.: +381 11 361 9228/9428