This is a part of the letter which Zvonko Tarle, one of the founders of the Pristina radio "Kontakt", sent a few days ago to the president of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic. The answer hasn't arrived yet.
Zvonko Tarle says that the radio was founded "to recruit children from mixed marriages for a common project". Surnames Metahuza, Nuai and even Kostic do not mean anything by themselves. However, all these youngsters are children from mixed marriages and have already suffered or will suffer in the future because of their surnames, regardless of the final political solution for Kosovo. They speak both languages, very easily communicate with both ethnic groups and it is a terrible waste not to use the available "natural resources". They have friends among young Serbs and Albanians and have recruited them for this project.
Radio "Kontakt" had been on air for about 10 days and then, without prior notice, was banned: 21 policemen entered the offices of the radio, armed to the teeth, wearing flack jackets, and helmets. Witnesses say that two police vans and four police cars were parked in front of the door; two inspectors from the Federal Ministry for Telecommunications were also present. During all that time, only two journalists were present in the offices of the radio.
Formally, the radio station was banned because it broadcast without a work permit. However, Zvonko Tarle says: "The basic problem was that radio 'Kontakt' carried news programs in Serbian language produced by foreign radio stations [such as BBC and 'Voice of America']. If that is so, why doesn't the Ministry demand that the governments of those countries ban those programs. Why don't they, as a condition for the start of negotiations in Kosovo, demand a ban of 'Voice of America' and BBC? But, if those stations exist and are legally broadcasting there is no reason why the citizens should not be given a chance to hear their news through a small local station; of course, no one can force them to believe those news".
Tarle believes that the whole case is similar to the bans in 1945 and 1946.
"I think that those times are gone and that satellites have made these bans meaningless. Anyone can listen to any station in the world, even the Radio Beijing news program in Serbian. Thus, the question is whether Radio Beijing also broadcasts propaganda? Also, why should a huge state like China bother to produce a news program in Serbian?"
The radio "Kontakt" team is convinced that the ban came after an "intervention from Pristina" and Zvonko Tarle adds:
"These powerful individuals (I know them personally) who insisted that the radio station be banned, are using the crisis to stay in power. They do not care about dialogue, tolerance, a solution for the Kosovo crisis... As soon as the crisis is resolved they will leave be swept away for good. But they are not here because of history or politics, but simply because of their narrow, personal, material interests. This crisis suits them and they will not easily start a dialogue".
Tarle backs up this claim with evidence: the founder competed in the tender organized by the Federal Ministry for Telecommunications; in the first round the Ministry decided that two documents were missing: a building permit and the program scheme; the founder supplied both documents but hasn't heard from the Ministry since.
Zvonko Tarle claims that the competition itself is "unlawful" and says: "There is no law which would provide grounds for such a tender; the Ministry for Telecommunications used an old law which dates from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This action practically annulled the Serbian law about Telecommunications; Montenegro didn't allow that and stations from that republic didn't take part in the tender".
"Now we have the situation that the Federal Government is in charge of Serbian radio stations, while Montenegro is in charge of its media space and frequency allocations".
Tarle also calls attention to the pre-election agreement between Slobodan Milosevic and Vuk Draskovic: "President Milosevic then publicly promised that no station in Serbia will be shut down until the tender is closed. The tender is still open, less than a half of all radio stations have managed to resolve their status with the Federal Ministry for Telecommunications, but the closures have already started. If this was a legal problem, about 200 stations would have been closed down and many would not be able to get a permit. For example, a trading company 'Zoja Komerc' won a permit, while 'Odgovor' didn't, although it is a publishing and broadcasting company".
Radio "Kontakt" was planned as a city radio: "If there is no light in a building, that equally affects all tenants regardless of their nationality. If there are shortages of food, that also equally affects everyone... There are no Serb and Albanian parks..."
"We thought we could resuscitate Pristina's urban identity which has been lost in this crisis. Pristina is a very old city, with specific habits and identifiable way of life... We thought that by reminding Pristina of its urbanity, we would spur those who used to live together and attended the same schools, and today ignore each other in the street, to renew their contacts. We wanted to see if Pristina, at least in traces, has managed to preserve its urban identity," says Tarle.
The ban prevented the editorial board to continue with the almost impossible task: in the environment with traditionally very little mixing among different ethnic groups, with the smallest proportion of mixed marriages in all of the former Yugoslavia, and with two almost separate worlds for the last 15 years, they wanted to broadcast a program which would be followed by both Serbs and Albanians. Zvonko Tarle mentions that in the street the citizens frequently refused to talk to the Radio "Kontakt" reporters, that their reporters were ejected from the Jul [a ruling party in Serbia, Yugoslav United Left] headquarters in Pristina...
"Young Albanians who work for us are considered traitors of their people and are taking a considerable risk, depending on the final political solution of the Kosovo crisis. Young Serbs are also traitors and bad patriots, since they work together with Albanians in a radio station. They have also gambled their lives and future by coming to work here. That's why I wrote a letter to Slobodan Milosevic, I wanted to point out that fact to him. With bans, we make enemies of young people who are the friends of Serbia. Does Serbia need that?"
"We will keep reminding the authorities that they are obliged to give us a broadcasting permit. In the meantime, we will have started a periodical 'Kosmet Politen' which aims to replace radio 'Kontakt' in a way. We will distribute the paper for free, mostly in Pristina... These are all various ways of resistance, but the main discussion will be in the court, regarding the return of our equipment which was confiscated, because that is against the law. We will also continue to deal with the Federal Ministry of Telecommunications in order to obtain a broadcasting license."
What will happen with radio "Kontakt"?
"By definition, in this type of struggle, we are the defeated side. The dilemma is whether we have the right to expose our editorial board in Pristina to the problems they face in their own environment. We received support from various international organizations, both humanitarian and professional, as well as numerous embassies. Obviously, it doesn't carry a lot of weight with our authorities. I think that radio 'Kontakt' will either get a broadcasting license by mid September, or never," says Tarle.