Lord Chelwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the Soviet Union started jamming the BBC's Polish broadcasts; how effective this has been; what is their estimate of the annual cost to the Soviet government; what protests we have made; and what explanations have been received.
§ Lord TrefgarneJamming of the short wave broadcasts of the BBC Polish Service by the Soviet Union began on 30th December 1981. Medium-wave transmissions of the Polish Service however remain clear. There is evidence to suggest that even on short-wave frequencies the Polish Service is still being heard in some parts of Poland. It is not possible to make a realistic estimate of the cost of the jamming to the Soviet Government but there can be no doubt that it must be substantial and probably exceeds the actual cost of the broadcasts.
Her Majesty's Government have made repeated protests to the Soviet and Polish Governments and have condemned the jamming in the strongest terms. My noble friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary also drew attention to this in his speech to the CSCE Review Meeting in Madrid on 12th February. No explanation for the jamming has been received from either the Polish or Soviet authorities.