Judita Popović: The process of selecting the REM Council is senseless; an EU response is necessary.

Popović told the Beta agency that the government does not want candidates who are not compliant to be elected to the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM).

“REM represents a mechanism that the current government heavily relies on, and they simply cannot afford to lose this lever as they need to keep electronic media under control and manipulate it. The government wants compliant individuals on the REM Council who will implement their demands regarding the regulation of the situation in electronic media,” she stated.

According to her, a response from institutions in the European Union that deal with media freedom would now be necessary.

“It is obvious that we are not in a position to change anything in the specific situation, as we no longer have a rule of law or institutions. REM is legally defined as an independent and autonomous organization, but there are no mechanisms through which we could fulfill the role of REM as prescribed by law,” Popović assessed.

Sixteen candidates have withdrawn from the process of electing members of the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media due to violations of the law .

The candidates who withdrew include Rodoljub Šabić, Antonela Riha, Đorđe Vlajić, Mileva Malešić, Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Dušan Aleksić, Ivan Lalić, Željko Hubač, Tatjana Jordović Nikolić, Vanja Šibalić, Irina Milutinović, Dragoljub Ivić, Tea Dimitrijević, Iva Prodanov, Gordana Predić, and Jelka Jovanović.

In addition to the candidates, 78 authorized proposers have also withdrawn from the process of electing members of the REM Council.

Source: Beta