Representatives of the Yugoslav independent media and the British government rejected accusations from the Yugoslav government that the media outletsн operations are activities of the British Embassy in Belgrade.о

Veran Matic, chairman of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM), dismissed the accusation as an assault on ANEM and independent radio B92 as well as general freedoms in Yugoslavia.

Apart from banning stations, the regime obviously wants to ban education--not only that for journalists, but also broader education, which becomes clear if we look at the results of the enforcement of the Law on Universities,о said Matic, quoted in a statement from the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).

The Yugoslav governmentнs accusation arose from a British offer to train six journalists from Kosovo, five ethnic Albanians and a Serb, the AMARC statement said.

In a show on the state-run Radio Belgrade on December 8, Information Secretary Goran Matic said that activities of Radio B92 and ANEM, are, in fact, the activities of the British Embassy in Belgrade.о He cited a fax we have received ... from our source at the British Embassy ... in which the British Embassy лurges ANEM to send the project proposal for the training of six journalists from Kosovo, five ethnic Albanians and a Serb ...но

The ANEM chairman said that for a year, the Yugoslav Secretary of Information has thwarted the establishment of an outlet of the BBC-run European School of Journalism by refusing to issue his approval on the BBCнs repeated demands, AMARC reported. ANEM has implemented a number of journalistic and technical courses, but due to the unstable political situation in Kosovo, decided that the first joint course for the Kosovo journalists, both Albanian and Serb, be held in London. The journalists come from stations in Kosovo--Radio Koha, Radio 21 and Radio Kontakt--that have applied with complete documentation in the frequency allocation tender by the Yugoslav Telecommunications Ministry but have had no response regarding their applications. Furthermore, Radio Kontakt was banned in June, only two days after it started rebroadcasting news programs by Radio B92.

For further information, contact Brian Carty at AMARC European Secretariat, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX, United Kingdom. Tel: (44-114) 221-0592. Fax: (44-114) 279-8976. E-mail: europe@amarc.org. Web site: http://www.amarc.org.