American Radio's Place in a New Europe

We at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Inc. are gratified by this editorial's stirring endorsement of our work.

In the context of downsizing to meet a sharply reduced budget, our board of directors and the oversight Board for International Broadcasting voted unanimously in April to move RFE/RL headquarters from Munich to Prague. Substantial operating economies are available in the Czech Republic and the front lines of freedom have moved eastward.

The Czech government has generously offered their vacant federal parliament building to house the Radios and would like a timely response. The International Broadcasting Act of 1994 provides for federal review and approval of the relocation.

RFE/RL and the Voice of America always have been different but complementary radios serving American interests in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. We focus on developments within this region. VOA concentrates on telling America's story. We have a high professional regard for each other. Together we remain the cheapest, most effective and risk-free instrument the United States has at its disposal to communicate with a volatile and strategically vital part of the world.

Amid the upheaval of the post-Soviet era, tens of millions of people - comprising very different audiences, but all of them struggling to build democracies - depend on America's international broadcasters. Kevin Klose, Munich, Germany Executive Vice President, RFE/RL Robert Gillette, Director, RFE

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