Pro-government says REM targets Prva and Informer while clearing N1

Pro-government says REM targets Prva and Informer while clearing N1
Serbia’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Media (REM) opened proceedings against TV Informer and TV Prva over alleged violations during the election campaign at a council session on October 29, 2026. At the same meeting, it found no basis to start proceedings against N1 over a complaint alleging unequal coverage of election participants in a report from Bačka Palanka.

The decision against Informer was unanimous. REM President Stevica Smederevac said the regulator’s monitoring and analysis service had been instructed to compare existing complaints with a separate initiative submitted by 32 organizations. That initiative contains dozens of alleged regulatory breaches; reports cited it as running to either 52 or 56 pages. Unexamined allegations will be separated into individual complaints that could lead to further proceedings.

Representatives of Informer and Prva are expected to appear at the council’s next session and respond to the allegations. The council also agreed to place the organizations’ initiative to revoke Informer’s broadcasting license on the agenda, while Smederevac said the regulator was reviewing all relevant complaints rather than automatically imposing sanctions.

The council’s wider agenda reflected mounting pressure on Serbia’s public broadcasters. Smederevac said unions had demanded urgent action concerning the RTS management board, while council member Dubravka Valić Nedeljković said public services lacked program councils and urged Parliament to address their appointment. Members also invited former REM director Rajka Galin Ćertić to explain her departure, officially attributed to retirement, following a public clash with Informer’s editor.

REM adopted its financial plan for 2027 and postponed decisions on the regulator’s leadership. Its next session is scheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m.