Serbian Parliament Committee Backs Legal Interpretation to Restore REM Council Members

A Serbian parliamentary committee has taken a step toward resolving a deadlock within the country's electronic media regulator. The Committee on Constitutional Issues and Legislation on Tuesday deemed justified a proposal for the authentic interpretation of a provision in the Law on Electronic Media. This legal maneuver is intended to enable four members of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) council, who previously resigned, to return to their positions.

The four council members, Mileva Malešić, Rodoljub Šabić, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik, and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković, resigned in November 2025. They cited their refusal to be elected through a process they believed prioritized politics over law. A key grievance was the parliament's failure to appoint all nine REM council members, including one representing national minorities.

“

We believe that the Committee's conclusion is not sufficient for our further action on its own, because the Committee is not competent to resolve the legal ambiguities that have arisen, but the National Assembly is.

Earlier, the parliamentary Committee on Culture and Information had suspended the process for nominating the minority representative and invited the four resigned members to resume their functions. However, the council members stated that the committee's conclusion was insufficient. They argued that only the National Assembly, not a committee, could resolve the legal uncertainties. They contended that the call to withdraw their resignations was based on an incorrect interpretation of the law, effectively attempting to alter legal provisions through a committee conclusion, which they deemed legally impossible.

Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić announced that a request for an authentic interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Law on Electronic Media would be submitted to the National Assembly. She expressed hope that this authentic interpretation would provide a legal basis for the resigned council members to reclaim their mandates.

“

Only if the aforementioned issues are resolved in accordance with the law would the conditions be created for us to take over the functions for which we were elected.