CRTA+ monitors the democracy area of the Reform agenda.

Within a single fortnight in July 2026, the European Commission produced two documents about the same country and largely the same developments – but they tell a very different story. On 3 July, the Commission circulated an internal note for EU Member States on recent developments in Serbia relevant to Cluster 3. The non-paper, later […]

The European Commission has published its 2026 Rule of Law report on Serbia. The picture it paints is of a country where the formal reform agenda keeps moving – new laws, new strategies, new opinions requested from the Venice Commission – while the substance of the rule of law continues to erode in practice. Political […]

On 10 July 2026, the National Assembly adopted an authentic interpretation of Article 18(4) of the Law on Electronic Media. Two days later, the four independent REM Council members who resigned in December 2025 – Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić and Rodoljub Šabić – published a letter announcing that they would take […]

On 8 July, EU member states, meeting in Coreper II, declined to open Cluster 3 (Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth) in Serbia’s accession negotiations. The decision came despite a European Commission note, published by POLITICO, that credits Belgrade with “recent progress” across the fundamentals. Read closely, much of that progress consists of the authorities putting out […]

The European Parliament’s annual Report on Serbia adopted on 7 July reflects the realities on the ground and acknowledges many of the concerns that civil society organisations have consistently documented and raised over the years. It confirms that the voices of citizens, journalists, academics, activists and independent organisations are heard in the European Parliament. The […]

Summary In an election year, the government is rewriting the central law on how political actors are financed. In a context where the ruling party commands almost unlimited resources, the amendments make it harder for new political actors to raise money and tighten the scrutiny of even small donors. And they continue a familiar pattern: […]

Interactive tracker Last updated 13 July 2026 – developing situation Electing a new REM Council: what went wrong For 20 months Serbia has had no media regulator with real powers – leaving the media space without effective oversight. The Council is REM’s decision-making body and holds its key powers – issuing and revoking broadcasting licences, […]

The amendments to the Law on Financing of Political Activities (LFPA) were submitted to parliamentary procedure by MP Petrašinović – not by the government – as part of the reform of the electoral laws to implement ODIHR’s recommendations. CRTA’s analysis covers two versions of the text: the first draft (10 March 2026), on which ODIHR […]

On 25 June 2026, at its 30th session, the National Assembly’s Committee for Culture and Information adopted a decision to suspend the procedure for nominating a candidate for the ninth member of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) – the seat filled on the proposal of the national councils of national […]