The fact that REM cannot apply objective monitoring criteria to "one big broadcaster" during the campaign threatens media pluralism, the equality of participants in parliamentary elections and equal conditions for the election game, according to four members of the REM Council.
Four members of the Council Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) assessed in a letter to the representatives of the international community that the decision to TV Informer not being included in the system monitoring of the election campaign directly affects the integrity of the current election process.
Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić and Rodoljub Sabic stated that the fact that REM cannot apply objective monitoring criteria to "one large broadcaster" during the campaign threatens media pluralism, equality of election participants and equal conditions selection matches, but also on the possibility of citizens to make a free and informed decision.
According to their opinion, the REM Council is formally constituted, but it is essentially blocked. Therefore, such a situation should not be seen as an internal dispute in the regulatory body, but as an indication that there are problems with meeting the conditions for holding free and fair elections, writes FoNet.
Four members of the Council recalled that they returned to REM precisely so that Serbia would not enter the election campaign without a functional media regulator. They felt that it was their responsibility to try to use every opportunity to get REM to fulfill its statutory role, but that the first serious test showed how difficult it was to achieve.
The REM service started monitoring the election campaign on September 10, even before the constitution of the new Council, using a sample taken from the monitoring methodology applied in 2023.
As part of that monitoring, 11 television channels are currently monitored, not including Informer.
At the session held on September 22, Šabić suggested that TV Informer be included in the sample. The council then decided that all members should submit proposals for expanding monitoring within 72 hours. All eight members of the Council then declared in writing that the Informer should be included in the sample, according to the letter.
However, when on September 28 it was to be formally decided on the expansion of the sample, four members changed their position. The voting ended with a result of four to four, so no decision was made.
The informant thus remained outside the system monitoring of the election campaign carried out by REM.
Valić Nedeljković, Prodanov Krajišnik, Malešić and Šabić assessed that such a development indicates a direct political influence on four members of the Council, and that this case should also be viewed in the context of earlier evaluations by the European Commission.
They reminded that the European Commission in a document from July 2026, speaking about the process of selecting REM members, assessed that the authorities and the parliament took a constructive approach and took the necessary technical steps that were under their control. Four members of the Council believe that the current situation requires a review of such assessment, because, as they stated, the formal constitution of REM should be clearly distinguished from the existence of a functional and independent regulator.
They also emphasized that their participation in the work of the Council should not be interpreted as a confirmation that the problems accompanying its work have been solved. Likewise, their willingness to compromise in order to make the institution work, in their opinion, should not be used as evidence that the REM is functioning normally.
Four members of the Council stated that they entered this institution in order to check whether it can perform its legal function, but that the first essential test showed that this is difficult to achieve. That is why they called on the European Union, OSCE/ODIHR and other international actors monitoring the elections in Serbia to formally record this case and take it into account when evaluating the election process.
They announced that they will continue to use all available legal mechanisms to demand that REM fulfill its statutory obligations. They also announced the public disclosure of any case in which the Council is prevented from implementing them, with the message that their participation in the work of the REM should not be used as evidence of the democratic legitimacy of the elections.
The letter was addressed to the head of the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia, the head of the OSCE/ODIHR Observation Mission for the elections in Serbia, the head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia, the head of the Office of the Council of Europe in Belgrade, the OSCE representative for freedom of the media, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, the rapporteur of the European Parliament for Serbia Tonino Pizzula, the institutions of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, the heads of missions of the EU member states in Serbia, as well as the embassies of the USA, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland.
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