Parliamentary Committee Launches Proceedings to Pick New Members to Media Regulatory Authority Council

RTS Blockade, April 22 2025 (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The Serbian parliament's Committee on Culture and Information voided on April 28 an earlier decision on the appointment of members to the Council of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media and launched new appointment proceedings, formally at the request of the opposition.

The launching of the new procedure to appoint members to the Council is a demand coming from the protesting students who have been blockading the buildings of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation in Takovska Street and Kosutnjak park since April 14. The Faculty of Dramatic Arts student protest later announced via social media that they had halted the blockade of the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation.

All 16 members of the Committee present voted in favor of the first decision, while 15 voted in favor of the second.

The previous proceedings to appoint new members of the Council were essentially halted after seven of the 18 candidates withdrew their candidacies because the process was rife with irregularities and illegalities, they said. 

Dejan Vuk Stankovic, a political analyst and professor at the Teacher Education Faculty, who was also a candidate, meantime became minister of education.

The last Council's term expired on Nov. 4, 2024 and a new one has not been appointed for almost six months.