Serbia and
Montenegro/Newspapers

RFE/RL: Shake-up at oldest Serbian daily newspaper

"On 26 July, a new board of directors was named for the Belgrade daily "Politika," which is half-owned by Germany's WAZ group and half by Politika AD, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported."

"The appointees include writer Matija Beckovic, film director Emir Kusturica, and Aleksandar Simic, who is an adviser to Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. The new board then sacked Darko Ribnikar as general director of the Politika Newspaper and Magazine Company, replacing him with businessman Srdjan Janicijevic, who has been general manager of Coca Cola and is Beckovic's brother-in-law."

"Ribnikar told RFE/RL that he was sacked for political reasons because he and Milan Misic, who is ' Politika's' responsible editor, have become a nuisance to the government."

"' Politika' was founded in 1904 and has been one of the most respected institutions in the Serbian political landscape. Even during communist times, it was considered Belgrade's most important paper and maintained an extensive network of foreign correspondents."

"Under former Serbian and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, it was turned into one of several mouthpieces of his regime. Following Milosevic's ouster in October 2000, ' Politika' drew close to Kostunica."