BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/02/2006

EU broadcasts news into Belarus

VILNIUS, Lithuania, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A radio station funded by the European Union has begun broadcasting independent news to Belarus in the weeks before its next presidential election.

Baltic Waves, located in Lithuania and staffed by Polish, Lithuanian, German, Russian and Belarusian journalists, broadcasts an hourlong program of news, music and information in both Belarusian and Russian languages, the BBC reported Sunday.

Radio Racja, a Polish-funded radio station, also began broadcasting into Belarus last week.

Baltic Waves is part of a $2.4 million EU program to support Belarusian journalists and promote independent media in the country, where President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of stifling the media. The plan also includes weekly half-hour television programs, due to begin soon.

Since Lukashenko became president in 1994, his government has been accused of violating human rights, suppressing opposition and rigging elections.

Despite the general expectation that Lukashenko will be re-elected for a third term, the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, has warned of protests if the March 19 elections are not fair.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060227-031524-8255r