Voice of America Washington, DC 20547 Tel: (202) 619-2538 Fax: (202) 619-1241 E-mail: pubaff@ibb.gov

Washington, D.C., March 24, 1999 -- In the wake of the crisis in Kosovo, the Voice of America is expanding its daily Albanian and Serbian language broadcasts hours by 15 minutes to get vital information to those who need it most. Coverage of the strikes have dominated the broadcasts of all 53 language services throughout the day.

"Because the crisis in Kosovo has intensified and the Milosevic government has shutdown Radio B-92 and other independent media, it is even more important for us to give our listeners up-to-the-minute, accurate and reliable information about the fast-moving events there," said VOA Director Evelyn S. Lieberman.

The new 15-minute Albanian and Serbian language broadcasts are beamed to the Kosovo region respectively from 1300-1315 UTC (8:00-8:15 a.m. EST, 2:00-2:15p.m. local time) and 2300-2315 UTC (6:00-6:15 p.m. EST, 12:00-12:15 a.m. local time), bringing 2 1/4 hours of Albanian and 2 3/4 hours of Serbian transmissions via shortwave and medium wave to Kosovo daily.

In addition to Serbian and Albanian, VOA broadcasts to the Balkan region in Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovene. Portions of the Serbian and Bosnian programs are also seen on television in the region.

The Voice of America broadcasts U.S., world, and regional news; features; entertainment; and music in 53 languages to an estimated audience of 83 million. VOA provides programming for more than 1,100 affiliate radio stations worldwide.

Contact: Lesley Jackson
(202) 619-2538

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