Warsaw-based TV channel Belsat applies to Belarusian foreign ministry for accreditation

Mikhail Yanchuk, a representative of Belsat TV, a Warsaw-based satellite channel, on December 20 filed an application with the Belarusian foreign ministry for the accreditation of the channel’s office in Minsk as part of Poland’s public television network TVP S.A.

Mr. Yanchuk handed the application to Maryya Vanshyna, head of the ministry’s press office, Syarhey Pyalyasa, spokesman for Belsat TV, told BelaPAN.

Ms. Vanshyna asked why the channel had operated in Belarus without registration and without its correspondents having been accredited, according to Mr. Pyalyasa.

Ms. Vanshyna reportedly said that under regulations governing the accreditation of correspondents of foreign media outlets, a decision on the application will be made by the government. A notification of the decision will be sent within two months.

Belsat TV started broadcasting on December 10, 2007, International Human Rights Day, under an April 2007 agreement between the Polish Public Television (TVP) and the Polish foreign ministry, which finances the channel.

The Belarusian-language channel describes its mission as providing “accurate and independent coverage of events in Belarus, Europe and the rest of the world.”

Reporters based in Belarus, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Poland contribute to the broadcaster.

According to Director General Agnieszka Romaszewska, Belsat employs 70 people in Poland and about 120 in Belarus. Surveys suggest that about 200,000 people in Belarus watch the channel.

Belsat has been broadcasting six hours of programming a day since July.