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# WAN, UNESCO To Help Rebuild Press Following Kosovo war
     World Association of Newspapers (WAN), Paris, 1 October 1999
# Southeast Europe Steering Group Reviews Progress

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE - FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
1 October 1999

WAN, UNESCO to help rebuild press following Kosovo war

SOURCE: World Association of Newspapers (WAN), Paris

(WAN/IFEX) - The following is a WAN press release:

Paris, 1 October 1999
For immediate release

WAN, UNESCO To Help Rebuild Press Following Kosovo war

Just three months after the Serbia-NATO war, the World Association of Newspapers and UNESCO have begun a major programme to help rebuild the independent press in Kosovo and Serbia and to help it grow in Macedonia.

The project aims to build a private distribution network for independent newspapers in Kosovo and Macedonia; to provide new private printing facilities for independent publications in Serbia; and to extend the existing independent distribution network in Serbia and Montenegro.

As a first step, WAN and UNESCO are planning to provide a printing plant for independent newspapers in Serbia. Funding for this project, which is estimated to cost about three million dollars, is being raised by UNESCO.

"The printing plant in Belgrade will be used by five independent dailies and nine weeklies that had circulations of 450,000 daily and 200,000 weekly before the war," said Timothy Balding, the Director General of WAN.

"Three of the dailies and two of the weeklies have been forced to close because of printing problems," said Mr. Balding. "The independent press needs an alternative to the government-controlled printing presses. The survival and growth of free newspapers depends on the development of independent infrastructures."

Two printing presses, with a capacity of 400,000 copies daily, will be installed in the new printing plant, to be purchased or built in Belgrade or its suburbs. It will be used by the dailies Blic, Danas, NT Plus, Dnevi Telegraf, Demokratija (the last three now closed) and the weeklies NIN, Nedeljm Telegraf, Vreme, Svedok, Dosije X, Republika, Krug (twice monthly), Argument and Evropljanin (the last two now closed).

Future plans include construction of a collective distribution system consisting of both a transport and sales network for Kosovo and Macedonia and the extension of the existing independent distribution network in Serbia to its pre-war capacity and beyond.

The WAN/UNESCO partnership has already helped set up an independent distribution network in Serbia, APM Transpress. Before the war, APM Transpress was delivering more newspapers than the government controlled distribution network and the new project includes expansion of the network.

Following the Serbia-NATO war, WAN and UNESCO sent a team of experts to the region to determine the needs of the independent print media. The projects announced today are the result of their findings.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 61 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and seven regional and world-wide press groups.

For further information, contact Larry Kilman, Director of Communications,
WAN, 25, rue d'Astorg, 75008 Paris, France, tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00, fax: +33
1 47 42 49 48, mobile: +33 6 86 18 46 12, e-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr

The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility of WAN. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit WAN.
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01 October 1999

Text: Southeast Europe Steering Group Reviews Progress

(Meeting reveals substantial challenges)  (900)

The High-Level Steering Group for Southeast Europe met in Washington, D.C., September 28 to review progress in rebuilding Kosovo since their last meeting and to discuss the challenges that lie ahead.
     The report of the meeting was outlined in a press release on the web site of the Southeast Europe Reconstruction Organization.
     Members of the Group include representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the European Commission under the co-chairmanship of European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Pedro Solbes Mira, and World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn. The Group, which last met in Brussels in July 1999, was set up to guide the donor coordination process for the economic reconstruction, stabilization, reform, and development of the Southeast Europe region.
     Among the greatest challenges to the success of reconstruction efforts is the lingering economic disruption in the region resulting from the conflict in Kosovo. This disruption has slowed economic reform and transition programs, although pressure has eased as refugees from the Kosovo conflict have returned home.

Following is the text of the press release:

(begin text)

Rebuilding Kosovo Moves Ahead; Long-Term Challenges Remain High Level Steering Group Meets to Review Progress

Washington, September 28, 1999

The process of rebuilding Kosovo is making progress, but international policy makers attending the second High-Level Steering Group for Southeast Europe, convening in Washington, DC at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, heard that substantial challenges still lie ahead as the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) works out how to resolve short-term humanitarian issues as well as longer-term reconstruction needs.
     Under the joint chairmanship of European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Pedro Solbes Mira, and World Bank President, James D. Wolfensohn, the High Level Steering Group today welcomed the progress being made by UNMIK in laying the foundation for a sound market economy and in preparing a budget for Kosovo for the rest of 1999 and 2000. However, the Group also called on international donors to disburse the money they had previously pledged for both budgetary support, and humanitarian aid in time for the onset of the Balkan winter.
     In addition, mindful of the need to protect both domestic revenues as well as external donor support from corruption or misappropriation, the Group also welcomed the setting up of strict financial and auditing controls to ensure that all transactions involving the Kosovo budget are transparent and fully accountable.
     The Group, which was set up to guide the donor coordination process for the economic reconstruction, stabilization, reform, and development of the Southeast Europe Region after the recent Cologne Summit, encouraged UNMIK to create the right business conditions to attract private investment and, more broadly, accelerate the process of transforming Kosovo into a modern market economy. "It is essential that the next Kosovo Donors Conference is fully successful, in particular, in helping to fund a real operational budget for Kosovo," EU-Commissioner Solbes said.

Prospects and Needs of Southeast Europe

The Group reviewed the economic consequences of the recent hostilities in Kosovo, which caused major setbacks for the economies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Romania. Although the rapid return home of Kosovar refugees after the end of the hostilities brought considerable financial relief for those countries which had offered them shelter, many of these regional economies still face continuing disruption in investment, tourism, trade, and transit routes around the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). As a result, in many countries, economic reform and transition programs have come under considerable pressure.
     At the first High Level Steering Group meeting in Brussels in July 1999, participants had expressed concern about the 1999 balance of payment situation in the six most affected countries in Southeast Europe. However, at the meeting today, the Group said it was pleased to see that their budgetary needs have been largely filled as a result of adjustment efforts by most countries and extra international donors assistance.
     In 2000, the IMF projects a substantial residual balance of payments gap for the six countries, arising from the need to fund renewed reform and adjustment efforts, as well as mitigating the remaining impact of the Kosovo crisis.

Interaction with the Stability Pact

The Group welcomed the successful launching of the Stability Pact at the Summit Meeting in Sarajevo at the end of July, and the various announcements made with respect to special economic and financial assistance to the region.
     "I am particularly pleased that we have been able to accomplish all of this in true partnership," said World Bank Group President James D. Wolfensohn. "We face extremely complex challenges in our work on the Balkans and there is no chance for success without such partnerships."
     The Group noted that close coordination between the activities undertaken by the Stability Pact and its Working Tables, in particular the Table on Economic Reconstruction, Development and Cooperation, and the initiatives of the High Level Steering Group is essential.
     For their part, the World Bank and the European Commission will continue to organize donor coordination meetings to mobilize appropriate financing. However, continued economic reform and domestic adjustment by the countries in the Region will be essential to lay the foundation for an efficient transformation to a market economy.

(end text)

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