CME'S INTEREST IN SERBIAN TELEVISION

Veran Matic, Head of Serbian independent Radio B 92, which Milosevic's regime tried unsuccessfully to suppress last year, is trying to launch an independent television channel in Serbia. Mr Matic confirmed at a Freedom Forum conference in London on 30th May, 1997, that Mark Palmer, formerly of CME, held discussions with Veran Matic's team about possible cooperation in this venture. According to Veran Matic, the discussions took place in Washington in December 1996 and in Belgrade at the end of January 1997.

(At that time, Mark Palmer was no longer a member of the board of CME. He explained in an interview in February 1997 that he had temporarily resigned from CME on 8th October, 1996 in order to pursue television developments in the Middle East and in Asia.)

"We gave CME certain basic information and our conditions under which we would be willing to set up a joint venture. CME however has not come back to us," said Mr. Matic and continued: "I know, CME is very much interested in the whole region. It already runs TV stations in Slovenia and in Rumania and they have been negotiating with a TV station in Sarajevo."

Jan Culik

Glasgow University