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As candidates participating in the process of selecting members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media Council, we believe that responsibility towards the law and the public interest is an inseparable part of our future role.

The International Conference of the Association for Political Science of Serbia, the Gathering of Political Scientists at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, concluded today with a round table on the topic of **“The Struggle for REM: The Challenge of Independence and Accountability in the Regulation of Electronic Media in Serbia.”**

Who should react when the chief and responsible editor of a television station shows intimate photographs of a student who testified about police torture during a live broadcast? At a time when the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) has had no Council for almost a year and lacks the ability to perform its functions, which institutions are responsible for sanctioning the media?

The selection of a new Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) is entering its final phase, while the European Commission, in its latest progress report on Serbia, insists on strengthening the independence of media institutions. Journalist and former member of the REM Council, Višnja Aranđelović, and attorney from the Association of Journalists of Serbia, Gordana Konstantinović, point out issues regarding transparency, irregularities in the selection of proposers, and uncertainty about the further course of the procedure.

The proposing organizations submit a public and formal request to the National Assembly and the Committee for Culture and Media due to a serious violation of the Law on Electronic Media in the process of selecting members of the REM Council, which occurred on October 21, 2025, through the actions and decisions of the Professional Service of the National Assembly. Although the Committee's report from October 14, 2025, clearly established the list of authorized proposers and candidates, the Professional Service allowed representatives from nine national councils, who do not have the status of authorized proposers, to attend and vote, thereby directly violating Article 13 of the Law on Electronic Media. Below, we present the text of the request:

The authorities are trying in every way to maintain control over the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM). After the agreement, it became clear that four independent candidates can be elected to the Council of REM, which has nine members. To facilitate the election of Ištvan Bodžoni, nine unauthorized proposers were brought forward for the voting of the Council of National Minorities.

The non-governmental organization Citizens' Initiatives has assessed that the Expert Service of the National Assembly, by including nine new proposers in the voting on candidates for the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), has violated the Law on Electronic Media.

Candidates for the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) have been agreed upon in all nine categories. Authorized proposers selected two candidates in each category. Among them, the Assembly will ultimately choose one candidate to join the Council.

Harmonization of candidates for the REM Council in five categories has shown that, if the procedure is followed through to the end and no candidate withdraws, at least two independent and professional candidates may be approved for the REM Council. The candidates from journalistic associations are Đorđe Vlajić and Mileva Malešić, while the associations focused on child protection are represented by Dušan Aleksić and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković. The favorites of the authorities, Stevica Smederevac and Miloš Garić, have also passed.