ZAGREB, 27 June, 2021 - Serbia will get a new daily newspaper on Wednesday, 30 June, but for reasons of political obstruction it will not be printed domestically but in Croatia.
The daily, called Nova, will be written and edited by journalists from the Serbian news website nova.rs, which is owned by the Luxembourg-based United Media Digital company, a member of the United Group. Since March 2019, the United Group has been majority-owned by BC Partners, one of the leading global investment companies.
The United Group also owns the regional cable television channels N1 and Nova, and has recently acquired the Belgrade-based liberal daily.
The Serbian Progressive Party of President Aleksandar Vučić and the ruling coalition see the United Group as a media corporation supporting the Serbian opposition and working against the state and national interests. The ruling coalition has dominant influence over the majority of print and electronic media, notably tabloids, as well certain news websites. The electronic media regulator is also under their influence and several non-parliamentary opposition parties are constantly under attack from pro-Vučić media.
In such circumstances, the editors and owners of Nova tried to find a publisher in Serbia, but failed. All publishing companies approached by Nova showed a complete lack of interest even though they were offered more than the market price for their services, the newspaper said in a statement.
Stojan Drčelić, the editor in chief, and Veselin Simonović, the director of the Nova website and newspaper, said that the fear of reaction from the regime outweighed the commercial interests of publishers.
The Nova newspaper will be printed in the eastern Croatian city of Osijek and distributed across Serbia.
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