REM and media regulation

Serbia's media regulator has had no functioning Council since November 2024, when the previous mandate expired. Two selection attempts and a third, partial one have failed to produce a legitimate, complete Council - a process kept unlawful and, at each turn, bent to preserve control over the media. With only four members, REM cannot meet, take decisions, or elect a president, leaving the media space without effective oversight. A legitimate, functional Council is a condition for Serbia's EU accession - but the goal is not simply to fill the seats: it is to halt the backsliding in freedom of expression and secure genuine media pluralism. CRTA documents the selection process and the departures from the law that have kept the regulator paralysed.

Electing a new REM Council: what went wrong

October

In mid-October 2026, REM’s director Rajka Galin Ćertić - in the post since late 2023 - left the regulator, her employment ending on 23 October. Accounts of why differ: some reports described a resignation tied to a dispute over documenting an incident involving TV Informer, while Council member Miloš Garić said she is retiring and dismissed other accounts as speculation. The departure comes during the election campaign, with the Council already split 4-4 over whether to bring Informer into its campaign monitoring.

REM developments

After all eight REM Council members had agreed in writing to include TV Informer in the regulator's election-campaign monitoring, four reversed their position on 28 September and the vote ended 4-4, leaving Informer outside the monitoring. On 1 October, the four independent members wrote to the EU, OSCE/ODIHR and other international actors, warning that REM is formally constituted but substantively blocked, that its first real test showed it cannot apply objective criteria to a major broadcaster, and asking that this be weighed in assessments of the electoral process.

REM developments

September

Sixteen media associations and civil society organisations called on Telekom Srbija to stop distributing Informer TV, Kurir TV and other channels over the terrestrial network, and filed an initiative with the newly constituted REM Council to restore compliance with the law and open proceedings against those responsible. The two channels hold licences for cable, satellite and IPTV distribution, but not for national terrestrial broadcasting. The initiative came two days after the Council was constituted, and a month before the parliamentary elections.

Update

REM keeps Informer out of campaign monitoring; four members warn international partners

All eight members had agreed in writing to monitor Informer, but four reversed in a 4-4 vote; four independents asked the EU and OSCE/ODIHR to take note.

Update

Telekom Srbija and REM urged to stop terrestrial broadcasting of Informer and Kurir

Sixteen media associations and civil society organisations say the two channels hold no licence for national terrestrial broadcasting and that Telekom has assumed the regulator's powers.

Update

Governing boards of RTS and RTV lose quorum due to the REM blockade

From 14 July, neither public broadcaster's board has the members needed to decide - a direct consequence of the still unconstituted REM Council.

Update

Independent REM members return after parliament’s disputed reinterpretation of the law

After parliament adopted an authentic interpretation reviving their mandates, the four independent members announced they will take up their seats - putting the blame for the deadlock on the ruling majority.

Update

How Serbia was left without a functioning media regulator

A new interactive tracker maps how nearly two years of unlawful, manipulated selection have left the REM Council paralysed - and why simply electing members will not restore an independent regulator.

Update

Committee for Culture and Information suspends election of REM’s minority-nominated member

Citing minority council elections due to be called in late August, the ruling majority halted the election of REM's ninth member and pulled the two-candidate list from parliament - while urging four members who resigned in December over that same seat to return, on the grounds that the Assembly never verified their resignations.

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.

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.

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.

CRTA.Plus is part of CRTA’s work to document developments related to democracy, the rule of law, and accountability in Serbia.

Key Issues

Slučajevi

Other pages

Slučajevi

REM and media regulation

REM’s long-serving director is leaving the regulator mid-campaign, as the Council stays split over whether to sanction TV Informer.

Four independent REM members appealed to international partners after the Council failed to add Informer to campaign monitoring.

Sixteen organisations asked Telekom Srbija and REM to stop the unlicensed terrestrial broadcasting of Informer TV and Kurir TV.

REM keeps Informer out of campaign monitoring; four members warn international partners

Telekom Srbija and REM urged to stop terrestrial broadcasting of Informer and Kurir

Governing boards of RTS and RTV lose quorum due to the REM blockade

Independent REM members return after parliament’s disputed reinterpretation of the law

How Serbia was left without a functioning media regulator

Committee for Culture and Information suspends election of REM’s minority-nominated member

Third attempt to complete REM Council fails – regulator remains non-functional

Parliament elects incomplete REM Council – four independent members resign within weeks

Mass withdrawal of candidates and nominators stalls second REM Council selection