26. 08. 2002

Djindjic contests Der Spiegel report

BERLIN, August 26, 2002. – Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, reacting to a story published in the August 12 edition of German weekly Der Spiegel on his strong ties with Bodo Hombach, the former coordinator of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, has sent a correction to the weekly. Hombach is currently one of the key players in the WAZ media group and played an active role in the group’s purchase of Belgrade Politika daily. In his correction Djindjic points out that the text, written by Der Spiegel’s Belgrade correspondent, could give the impression that his contacts with Hombach and the sale of Politika shares “could be abused” in the sense of possible political influence on Politika’s editorial staff. “It is completely the opposite,” claims Djindjic, “with the privatization of the media my government wishes to guarantee the highest degree of plurality, and above all to raise the professionalism of reporting.” Djindjic signed his correction with his official title of “Serbian Prime Minister”, although it appears in the “Readers’ letters” column of the magazine which will hit newsstands today.