05. 05. 2005

DIVINE RIGHT TO THE AIRWAVES

BELGRADE, May 5, 2005 – “None of the radio and television stations has been issued the license for the permanent use of the frequencies”, said yesterday the Deputy Minister for capital investments, Dragomir Vasiljevic. Serbia’s Capital Investments Ministry has ducked an accusation by President Boris Tadic by saying that it has issued no long-term licenses for the use of radio and television frequencies, specifying that the telecommunications sector in the Capital Investment Ministry has approved only the temporary license for the use to the Serbian Orthodox Church, which would be valid until the commencement of the frequency allocation process in line with the Broadcast Act. On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, Tadic criticized the work of the Ministry claiming that the Ministry had usurped the jurisdiction of the Agency for Telecommunications by illegally allocating frequencies to certain media. Chairman of the ANEM Managing Board Slobodan Stojsic warned that the plan for frequency allocation was still in force, which defined only 4 national frequencies for three programs of the RTS and Radio Yugoslavia. Speaking for Danas, Stojsic rated the work of the Ministry as very unclear, adding that the expert public was usually not consulted on any issue. “ANEM fears of such situation where certain “ineligible” media would lose the license on the basis of the technical criteria, which have not yet been defined”, explained Stojsic. Another problem lies in the fact that plans for frequency allocation have been created, even though the Telecommunications Agency, which has not yet been formed, together with the Broadcast Council, had not come up with the developing strategy. The managing board of the Agency has not yet been elected, while the Broadcast Council cannot operate until a ninth member from Kosovo and Metohija is voted, and financial plan and statute adopted. The Ministry issued a statement saying that the proposal of the members of the Agency’s managing board entered the parliamentary procedure. The Ministry forwarded the Draft Plan for frequency allocation/locations for analogue FM and TV broadcast stations on the territory of Serbia to the public debate, as an act of “willingness to make its work as transparent and prompt as possible”. The daily Danas was however not able to find the document on the official website of the Ministry, or anywhere else on the internet.