Žarko Rakić (born 1955) is a Serbian journalist and former acting editor-in-chief of Politika, Serbia’s oldest daily newspaper. He spent his entire career at Politika starting in 1979, primarily in the foreign affairs section. Rakić served as assistant editor-in-chief, foreign affairs editor (three terms), and editor of advertising supplements. He was a foreign correspondent in Vienna (covering Central Europe) and Germany. Appointed acting editor-in-chief in July 2016 after Ljiljana Smajlović’s resignation, he held the role until his retirement in 2020, Especially since official retirement he has frequently appeared in Serbian media, spreading anti-Western disinformation and supporting Putin’s aggression against Ukraine.
Below is an example of his anti-Western, pro-Putin propaganda supporting Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, broadcast on TV Vesti and interviewed by pro-Russian propagandist Srdjan Predojević (b.1971) — a government-controlled Serbian media outlet — on April 19, 2025:
