"If there were a REM..." is the beginning of a sentence that would require long, finely written pages of continuation. This body has not been what it should be for a long time, and since the beginning of November 2024, it essentially does not exist. A year later (November 12, 2025), a new, truncated Council of Rem of eight members was elected. After the government, in violation of the law, tried to push Istvan Božoni, practically Orbán's man, into the position of the ninth member from the ranks of national minorities, newly elected independent members - Rodoljub Šabić, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković - submitted their resignations.
The status quo was broken a few days ago. The Assembly adopted the Authentic Interpretation of the Law on Electronic Media, which says that the mandate can end with resignation only after it formally begins. The mentioned four then decided to participate in the work of the Remo Council.
Such a decision caused stormy reactions from both sides - both the government and its opponents. Part of the opposition public pelted Rodoljub Šabić with harsh criticism, but also the three members, considering that with the decision to return, they provided a cover for the regime to praise Brussels. And some of those criticisms weren't even criticisms - they were accusations and insults.
We talk about Remo from several angles, but also Serbian society and politics Rodoljub Šabić.
WEATHER: Since, in the context of Remus, often talks about the relationship between Serbian society power Brussels, in order to, considering that axis, it seems that you have not accepted the Authentic Interpretation of the Law on Electronic Media?
RODOLJUB ŠABIĆ: I really don't see what society would gain if we didn't accept it. The situation, if we look at things objectively, is extremely clear. Namely, I will remind you that the document of the European Commission proposing the opening of a cluster for Serbia was prepared before this event and before the government even embarked on creating the Authentic Interpretation. And in that document, it was emphasized that Remo was not there, but that the government showed maximum constructiveness.
The government had already achieved its points. Therefore, if we refused to act according to the Authentic Interpretation, we would present ourselves as someone who refuses to obey the law, which the authorities would not fail to take advantage of. Therefore, the government has been marketing to Europe all the time that the civil sector is unconstructive and that it has actually blocked REM, although it is true that the government does not want REM, especially not one in which there are also independent members. The facts amply confirm this: from the very beginning, the government was late with the process without any reason, thus leading us to a situation where Serbia does not have a regulatory body. Therefore, the answer to your question is - absolutely nothing good would happen for Serbia.
The main criticism that is being heard against you these days is that you have given legitimacy to the regime.
That talk about "giving legitimacy" is just a tired phrase that has been used for years, and it is basically defeatist. What does that mean? You must not enter any game, you must not try to improve the situation, because that is how you supposedly give legitimacy to an undemocratic regime. And the funniest and fiercest criticisms come from the opposition representatives sitting in the parliament. Therefore, they are sitting in the Assembly - which is the result of elections that we declared stolen - and they do not think that they are thereby giving legitimacy. But that's why people who, with the support of the civil sector, try to enter an institution and establish something different there, are transferred to them because, my God, they give legitimacy!
Do you believe that in Remus, in these conditions, can really do something? And if so, then how, considering the obstructions that the government implements when people who are not in the institutions enter "hers"?
There is one sentence of Brecht's that I adhere to all my life - who fights, can also lose, who does not fight, has already lost. If we don't try something, we will most certainly not succeed. Let's face it, I'm not too optimistic, but it's our duty to try.
Is it possible that someone thinks that it is okay and good for Serbia to be one of the few countries in the world that does not have any regulatory body? Is it possible that someone thinks it is a good idea to disband the Management Board of the Public Media Service? Because there, too, the term of office of most of the members has expired. The public service now does not have a management body, and it cannot have one, since the members of the Management Board should be chosen by this Remo Council.
There are numerous situations in which existentially important demands of citizens remain unresolved for months. We are talking about taxpayers whose rights depend on the Remo Council, such as issuing or extending permits, and whose cases are pending because there is simply no one to decide on them. I repeat, I am not optimistic at all and it is realistic to expect that we will hit a wall, but we should try.
What can the four of you specifically do, possibly five, to do in Remo?
We can prevent decisions that are in the interest of the government. To begin with, it is not small. If we cannot influence the proposals that came from the other side, to remind those people of the law - that they are not representatives of the government, and we are representatives of the opposition, but people who, according to their conscience, should decide on issues that serve the purpose of protecting the public interest and applying the law - then we will at least prevent the making of illegal decisions and inform the public in order to provide them with a completely clear picture of what is happening there.
After all, what can we do in the National Assembly? What can we do in any institution in Serbia? If the question is asked like that, it is complete defeatism. So we can't do anything, let's all withdraw from all institutions.
photo: milica vucković / fonet...
The election of the fifth member of the Remo Council is pending. What do you expect there??
The government-independent ratio is now 4:4, the fifth member will be the tip of the scales, but that doesn't have to mean much, because capital decisions are made by the REM with a two-thirds majority. A 5:4 ratio in anyone's favor is not a decisive moment. As for the fifth member, he comes from the category in which we won a victory with our persistence and insistence: we forced the government to give up its stubborn and illegal, at one point even criminal favoritism of practically Orbán's candidate (Istvan Božoni).
Is it possible that the opposition has no strength and will to try to influence the councils of national minorities, to tell them: "People, don't be the subject of government manipulation. Try to send your independent people to that Council." Do they waive it in advance?
Second, we in Serbia do not know when the elections will be held. The fact that the president announces dates every now and then does not mean anything. The possibility that we will have regular parliamentary elections in December next year is not excluded. Before that, the mandate of three members of the Council, namely those from the "dependent" category, will expire. There will be an opportunity to elect those three members. Can't the opposition make any contribution at all to those three seats being won by independent people?
I know the calculations are thankless, but part of the public hopes that it would considering that the previously forced fifth member of Remo was a member of the Hungarian minority and, as you say, Orban's man set, due to the change of government in Hungary, someone completely different could come to that place?
I can't speculate what will happen. It is realistic to expect changes in that direction. But the main person responsible for the entire process of sabotaging the election at that time was Elvira Kovač, representative of the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians. She is the one who asked at the last minute to send a very ugly, discriminatory message not to vote for a Bosniak or an Albanian. The new process includes the right of each national council to nominate its own candidate. Last time there were only three of them, now there may be more. It is very important that the process be democratic and that the democratic forces make an effort to do so. We did not engage in that story to sabotage the process. We got into a 4:4 situation, and now someone says "it's a catastrophic failure", I answer - we can do something.
Let's get back to what else can be done.
To begin with, we can insist, which should be immanent to a body such as the Remo Council, on complete publicity in its work. Not only on the extremely high-quality website, at regular and extraordinary press conferences, but also at the presence of media representatives at the sessions. So that the public can see exactly who is saying what and who stands for what there. We can do that even under the conditions of this "prehistoric" Statute of Remo. REM still applies the statute of the long-dead Republic Broadcasting Agency from 2005. And it's not only about the Statute, but also about the Rulebook, in short, the entire regulation is extremely dubious. That Statute, which was done at the last minute, will be a very big task to solve.
Second, you are in a situation where in a month or six months it will be the turn to start the procedure for the Public Service Management Board. It is also a matter of minimum standards of accountability and big business. Our presence there can ensure that people who are professional, independent and responsible enter the Management Board of RTS. Without our presence there it could not be. In other words, it is clear what the current context is, but we can move from the deadlock.
How much in the success of those so-called. small ones or not so small steps in the function of public interest can be an important synergy of the democratic bloc? Iliti, what if she doesn't show up?
So, we have to see what the election of the ninth member will be like. Maximum quality monitoring of that process and the widest possible participation of the public should be ensured. That's where we might get the first sign that things are moving forward. But yes, this is only possible with the appropriate engagement of all democratic forces. If declaratively some democratic forces will obstruct the process, then nothing will really come of it.
You said at the beginning of our conversation that you were not surprised by the attacks coming from both sides. In your opinion, Where do they come from??
There was a lot of praise and support from people from opposition parties and the civil sector, there was not only criticism. But we live in a strange society. I often remember one of Andrić's descriptions, I will paraphrase - long-term slavery and bad administration can lead to the disappearance of the sense of reason in a nation, that nation is unable to distinguish between what is good for them and what is bad for them. We are very close to that situation, because it has been systematically worked on for a long time. Misinformation reigns supreme.
It is natural for everyone to have a critical opinion, even if it is based on faulty premises. It is reasonable to expect that people are not fully aware of the facts. But when the criticisms, such as I hear these days, come from subjects who know the situation, or should, then it's a completely different story.
The government's campaign could be expected. Although they are pretending, they really care that we give up on Remo so that they can handle everything themselves. That's why on-call, high-paid bots are posting nastiness at our expense. However, what is surprising and below all levels are the insinuations and accusations of treason that come from the mouths of people with whom we are in the same train. The organized bot attack from that side is very worrying because it shows that it is about the exact same mentality that dominates the regime: they are only interested in the truth if it suits them, and if not - the most mundane disqualifications are allowed. And that gives a rational person the right to wonder - and tomorrow, when they take power, will we really get a perfect democratic level?
I will tell you one more thing: I was a politician and party member a long time ago. It's 22 years since I left. These three ladies with whom I have the honor to share positions in the Remo Council have never been in a party. And that makes me think - if by any chance we were obedient party soldiers, maybe there wouldn't be such attacks on us.
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