The management of Polish Radio says news broadcasts in Belarusian on Polish Radio 1 will help keep listeners beyond Poland’s eastern border informed about what is happening in their country amid limited access to reliable information.
Thanks to transmitters at a broadcasting centre in Solec Kujawski, north-central Poland, Polish Radio 1 can be heard on 225 kHz long wave almost throughout Europe, including the entire territory of Belarus, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
Special news programmes produced by the Belarusian section of Polish Radio’s External Service will be aired on Polish Radio 1 three times a day: at around 6:30 a.m., shortly after noon, and just after 10 p.m.
The initiative aims to provide Belarusians, including those living in areas where there is no internet access or facing limitations in connectivity, with easy access to up-to-date and reliable information about the situation in their country and the response of the international community, Polish Radio executives have said.
“Offering support to the people of Belarus in these difficult times, and showing solidarity by providing reliable and true information, is part of Polish Radio’s mission as a public broadcaster,” said CEO Agnieszka Kamińska.
Andrzej Rybałt, director of Polish Radio’s External Service, said that, while there is no way of knowing at this point how the situation in Belarus will progress, news programmes in Belarusian could help the public there make informed choices.
"Certainly, information flowing through the airwaves in their own language will help the people of Belarus make a decision about whether it’s worth moving closer to the Euro-Atlantic community, putting an end to dictatorship, and implementing a broad set of economic, political and social reforms,” said Rybałt, who originated the latest Polish Radio project.
Broadcasts are due to start this Saturday, August 22.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR