Photo: M. Milenković
On the tenth day of the blockade of Radio and Television of Serbia, the President of the Assembly of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, announced a session of the Committee for Culture and Information, where they will discuss the election of REM Council members. The European Commission notes that the election should be conducted in a transparent and comprehensive manner
Blockada Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) started on Monday, April 14, and it will last, the students say, until a new competition for members of the Council is announced Regulatory body for electronic media (REM) or until "RTS turns off".
On the tenth day of the blockade, there are signs of a potential end to the blockade, as the president of the Serbian Parliament is Ana Brnabic stated that a meeting of the Committee for Culture and Information has been called for April 28 at 15 p.m., where REM will be discussed.
Members of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Information from the ranks of the opposition requested earlier on Wednesday an emergency session of that body, at which the previous one would be annulled and a new process of electing members of the Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media would be started, which is also the request of the students who have been blocking the buildings of the Radio and Television of Serbia in Takovska Street in Belgrade and in Košutnjak for the ninth day.
A call to students to end the blockade
Stating that REM will be the topic of the Board's session, Brnabić called on the "student blockers" to end the blockade of RTS at a press conference in the parliament.
"I call for an end to the blockades. I call for talks. I call for an end to the mistreatment and humiliation of people, the persecution and threats that have been going on for nine days in front of RTS," said Ana Brnabić.
When it comes to the government's will to restart the process for the selection of members of the REM Council, Ana Brnabić said that seven members withdrew only when the Board submitted the final list of candidates to the Assembly and that it was pure obstruction, and pure obstruction of Serbia's European path.
"This Serbia will have REM and it will have a good REM", said Ana Brnabić and added that she believes that by Monday she will have a decision on what to do.
As of November 5, 2024, Serbia has no REM Council. The procedure for electing new members of the Council was launched several months late, and at the end of January 2025, seven candidates withdrew their candidacies due to, as they stated, numerous procedural violations.
The shortlist for Council members included people close to the ruling party, some who had already performed that job, and some were proposed by associations that do not have the legally required 300 members. Some even edited magazines published by the Serbian Progressive Party. Because of all this, the seven candidates decided then to no longer participate in what they said was a farce.
What does the European Commission say?
The European Commission (EC) emphasized that the election of members of the REM Council should be conducted in a transparent and comprehensive manner, writes the European Western Balkan portal.
As indicated by the EC, it is necessary that the election be carried out in accordance with the Law on Electronic Media and in accordance with Serbia's obligations from the adopted Reform Agenda, and the EC will monitor the procedures and functioning of REM in detail.
It was emphasized that freedom of the media is a key element in the process of Serbia's accession to the European Union and that they expect Serbia to establish a stimulating environment in which freedom of the media and expression will be implemented without obstacles.
"It is essential to allow journalists to do their work without threats of violence, harassment and intimidation, in order to ensure that citizens have access to all information," the EC stated.
They also expect that high-ranking officials in Serbia refrain from verbal attacks and threats to journalists and that this foresees media pluralism, which implies transparency of media ownership and advertising and enabling access to different political views in the media.
"Therefore, we expect the media regulator REM to start fully fulfilling its tasks," the European Commission for EWB said.
Source: FoNet/N1/Vreme/EWB
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