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REM and media regulation

Serbia's media regulator has had no functioning Council since November 2024, when the mandate of the previous Council expired. The first selection process that followed was marked by widespread irregularities - 17 of 34 candidates and 32 of 121 nominating organizations did not meet legal requirements, political pressure on nominators was recorded in 8 of 9 nomination groups, and the Committee on Culture and Information rejected all proposals to address these problems. The process ended without a single member being selected. A student blockade of RTS buildings in April 2025 forced parliament to annul the process and start again. The second process was no different. Mass withdrawals of candidates and nominating organizations, selective application of procedural rules, and the deliberate exclusion of legitimate participants defined the process from the outset. When a Council was finally elected in November 2025 - twelve months after the previous mandate expired - it was deliberately incomplete. The ruling majority ensured the ninth seat, reserved for a national minority representative, remained vacant. Four independent members resigned within weeks, citing continued legal violations. A third attempt to fill the vacant seats, launched in January 2026, attracted no candidates. The REM Council currently has four members - all considered close to the authorities. Under the Law on Electronic Media, the Council cannot hold sessions or make decisions without a quorum of five members. It cannot elect a president. It cannot issue sanctions. The establishment of a legitimate and functional REM Council remains one of the key conditions in Serbia's EU integration process. Civil society organizations and independent media continue to insist on the legality of the selection process and the formation of a Council that meets legal requirements.
January

On 19 January 2026, the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture and Information considered and annulled its decision of 29 December 2025 launching a procedure for nominating candidates for the REM Council. During the session, Committee Chair Nevena Đurić stated that no applications had been submitted by the deadline of 18 January 2026. After a discussion, the Committee decided to annul the December decision and close the procedure.

On 3 January 2026, a new public call was published in the Official Gazette to nominate candidates in four authorized nominator categories affected by resignations of independent REM Council members. The Committee had decided in late December to open nominations in categories including journalist associations and other groups. The call set a deadline for submitting proposals with two candidates per category.
December 2025

On 23 December 2025, the Committee held public interviews with the two candidates proposed under the renewed procedure for the national minority councils category, Ištvan Bodžoni and Sreten Jovanović. The interviews followed the Committee’s confirmation of the candidate list on 13 December and were conducted as part of the procedure for electing the ninth REM Council member.
Update
Third attempt to complete REM Council fails – regulator remains non-functional
After no candidates came forward in response to a new public call, the Committee on Culture and Information annulled the process, leaving Serbia's media regulator with four members and no prospect of functioning in the foreseeable future.
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Update
Parliament elects incomplete REM Council – four independent members resign within weeks
After months of procedural obstruction, parliament elected eight of nine REM Council members in November 2025, deliberately leaving the ninth seat vacant on political grounds. Within weeks, four independent members resigned, leaving the regulator with only four - all close to the authorities.
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Update
Mass withdrawal of candidates and nominators stalls second REM Council selection
After the Committee on Culture and Information repeatedly refused to address objections raised by legitimate nominators, 78 nominating organizations and 16 candidates withdrew from the process, leaving its outcome in serious doubt.
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Brief
Draft amendments to the electronic media law offer cosmetic fixes and leave regulatory independence ...
The draft amendments to the Law on electronic media enter parliament in May 2025 without prior publi...
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Brief
Proposed amendments to the public broadcasting law tighten political control and leave key reforms u...
The draft amendments to the Law on public media services introduce some formal improvements but fail...
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Update
Student blockade of public broadcaster forces restart of REM Council selection
After two weeks of students blocking access to RTS buildings in Belgrade, parliament's Committee on Culture and Information unanimously annulled the previous failed selection process and ordered a new one to begin.
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Update
Attempt to select a new REM Council ends in failure
A selection process marked by widespread procedural violations and political interference produced no legitimate outcome, leaving the regulator without a functioning Council from the moment its previous mandate expired.
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