German minority in Poland to get own radio station?

The move comes off the back of an announcement by Parliament’s sole German minority MP, Ryszard Galla, who said that documents for the radio’s concession to broadcast are to be filed by the end of November.

The station would be based in Opole, and would broadcast throughout the province as well as the western fragments of the Silesian province, including Gliwice, as well as eastern portions of the south-western Lower Silesian province.

However, the German minority station would not just broadcast programmes in the language. “Due to concessionary stipulations, we have to broadcast 30 percent of our programming in Polish,” Galla told MPs, adding that the station’s mission will be to provide news and educational programmes.

The radio’s creators have already signed a deal with German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, which has been charged with providing news from Germany and Europe.

The agreement with the German station will also supplement proposed exchange of information and experiences from Germany minority radio stations in Romania and Hungary.

Currently, the German minority is catered for by Polish Radio in Opole, as well as programmes broadcast by regional TVP public television stations in Katowice, Wroclaw, and Opole. (jb)

Source: PAP