Soviets Stop Jamming Radio Liberty 1st Time in 38 Years

WASHINGTON —  The Soviet Union has stopped jamming Radio Liberty broadcasts for the first time in 38 years, officials said today, as thousands of jamming transmitters blocking most Western broadcasts into the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were silenced.

Jane Lester, spokeswoman for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, said the service monitored all of its broadcasts overnight and found no jamming except for Radio Free Europe transmissions to Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.

“This is really a momentous event,” said Stanley Leinwoll, U.S. engineering director for the services in New York City. He said between 2,000 and 2,500 jamming devices were shut down in the Soviet Union, along with others run by Eastern European governments.

The lifting affected most Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Afghanistan services of the U.S. government along with most Israeli KOL transmissions and West German Deutsch Velle broadcasts beamed toward the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, said Beth Knisley, a spokeswoman for the Voice of America.

Knisley said the Soviets have not said why the jamming was stopped, but she added, “It saves them a lot of money, though.”