Manja Grcic resigns as RTS director, successor disputed
The director general of Serbia's public broadcaster has submitted her resignation to the Board. FoNet reports a replacement was chosen, while Branislav Klansek says no session took place.
Manja Grcic, director general of Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS), submitted her resignation to the public broadcaster’s Board of Directors on Wednesday evening. RTS itself published the resignation on its website. Two conflicting accounts have emerged over who has taken over temporarily: the FoNet news agency reports that the Board has already chosen an acting director, while Board chair Branislav Klansek insists that no session was held.
What Grcic said in her resignation
The statement says she made the decision after considering the circumstances in which the public broadcaster currently operates. N1 carried her explanation:
“I made this decision after careful consideration of the circumstances in which the public service is currently operating, believing it is in the interest of the institution to allow its work to continue without disruption.”
She asks the Board not to delay the next steps. According to Novosti, Grcic wrote in the resignation:
“I expect the Board of Directors, within its legal powers, to take all necessary action without delay to ensure continuity of management and a lawful handover of duties.”
She added that she is ready to offer all necessary cooperation so that the handover is carried out “in an orderly manner and without consequences for the work of Radio-Television of Serbia.”
The editor’s dismissal and staff demands
According to a statement from the public broadcaster, Grcic dismissed Bojana Mladjenovic as editor-in-chief of the Information Programme before submitting her resignation. She proposed Borivoje Uskokovic, the longtime editor of the Dnevnik news bulletin, for the post. N1 reports that part of the staff protested the proposal.
RTS itself said that the resignation had been “a demand of the RTS workers’ union, informal employee organizations at RTS and the Student List.” According to N1, the same demand applied to the other members of management and the editors of the news programme. More than 70 employees also put forward their own proposals: Jovan Memedovic as acting director and Milica Janjic as marketing director.
What FoNet claims and what Klansek says
After the resignation, FoNet reported that an electronic session of the Board had chosen the current deputy director, Dejan Jovanovic, as acting director, and Borivoje Uskokovic as editor-in-chief of the Information Programme. In the meantime, N1 had written that an electronic session was expected “at any moment.”
Klansek rejected that. Kurir carries his statement:
“I state with full responsibility that there was no session of the Board of Directors tonight, either regular or electronic, nor was any such decision made.”
Klansek said the Board must, under the law, respond to the resignation, but that no decision on an acting director has been made and the matter has not even been discussed. According to him, Board members will meet on Friday, October 30. He said the choice will not be simple: the candidate must meet all the conditions set for a director general, including ten years of experience in management positions, and must also come from among RTS employees. Klansek says it must first be established how many employees meet those criteria, and talks with possible candidates must follow.
The sources therefore disagree on one fact: whether the decision on a replacement has already been made. FoNet says it has, the Board chair says it has not.
Who is Manja Grcic
The Board of Directors appointed her on February 11, 2026, for a five-year term. She was born in Sarajevo in 1979 and began her career as a journalist at the BBC and the B92 television station. She served as a public relations adviser at international organizations and as director of the “Medija sistem” company at Pink television. From 2006 she was deputy director of Fox Television, and in 2008 she became director of the national television channel TV3 in Slovenia. She also ran B92 as director general, was executive director and co-owner of K1 television, and held senior positions at the Antenna Group and the Tanjug agency.
The RTS Board session is scheduled for Friday, October 30.
