According to SEEMO, on Wednesday, 1 June, the leadership of the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO) / People's Party sent an appeal to all owners of television and radio stations in Macedonia to ban the broadcasting of Serbian music for the next three months. This appeal followed the decision of the Serbian Orthodox Church not to recognise the Macedonian Orthodox Church.

The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI). The organisation strongly condemns this call by the VMRO/People's Party, stating that no party has the right to influence the editorial policy of any media house.

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IPI
International Press Institute
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tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14,
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or

SEEMO
The South East Europe Media Organisation
Spiegelgasse 2/29, 1010 Vienna, Austria
tel (SEEMO+HELP LINE): +43 1 513 39 40, tel (SEEMO): +43 1 512 90 11 11
fax: +43 1 512 90 15,
e-mail:  
www.seemo.org