Milosevic Shuts 2 Newspapers
Right after cutting a deal with U.S. negotiators to end the Kosovo crisis, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic cracked down on his Serbian opponents by silencing two Belgrade newspapers critical of his government.
Serbian police stormed the offices of Dnevni Telegraf and Danas late Tuesday. Pushing out reporters and editors, they shut down the independent dailies, saying their recent reports on NATO threats violated a broad, vaguely worded ban on unpatriotic behavior.
The popular columnist of Dnevni Telegraf, Aleksandar Tijanic, denounced the action against the newspapers as “a clash between two Serbias.” Serbia is the dominant republic of the rump Yugoslavia, and Belgrade is their shared capital.
“One is a xenophobic, conservative, anti-European Serbia,” said Tijanic, who is known for lucid commentaries that often target the government. “The other is liberal, democratic, open to the world. This is the beginning of an internal cold war,” Tijanic said.
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