What it is
REM is Serbia's independent regulator of electronic media. Its nine-member Council takes decisions within the regulator's remit, including licences, oversight of media-service providers, and statutory measures. The National Assembly elects members by a majority of all MPs for a non-renewable six-year term.
How the Council is appointed
The law names nine groups entitled to nominate candidates. They include rights-protection bodies, accredited universities, associations of electronic-media publishers, journalists, film, stage, and music artists, and groups for freedom of expression and child protection; national minority councils and churches with religious communities are separate groups. Each group nominates two candidates, public hearings are held, and parliament then votes on the candidates.
Why the procedure became disputed
Parliament elected eight members on November 12, 2025. Four of them — Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, Mileva Malešić, and Rodoljub Šabić — submitted resignation statements on December 19 before taking office. In June they said they would take office subject to conditions concerning the ninth member's selection. N1 reported their view that the refusal to vote for the minority candidate and later steps harmed the procedure's legitimacy; that is the letter writers' assessment, not a court finding.
Current status
The underlying law says that a written resignation submitted to parliament ends a member's mandate on the day it is delivered. On July 10, 2026, parliament adopted an authentic interpretation of Article 18(4): only a statement submitted after taking office counts as a resignation under that provision. The December statements by the four elected members, who had not yet taken office, therefore have no legal effect and do not end their mandates. After the interpretation was adopted, they said they would begin working in the Council. The seat to be filled from candidates nominated by the national minority councils remains unresolved, according to N1 and Danas.
Why it matters
The Council's work affects REM decisions about electronic media: licences, compliance oversight, and measures involving media-service providers. The dispute also matters because the law requires members to act independently, not as representatives of the organizations that nominated them. An unfilled ninth seat does not erase the role of the members already elected, but it leaves the Council's appointment process incomplete.
Next open question
The key developments to watch are whether the Council begins holding sessions with the four members who said they would take up their duties, and when the selection process resumes for a candidate nominated by the national minority councils.