Author: Tijana Ilić

Source: N1info.rs

The high-ranking official of the European Commission, Gert Jan Kopman, who is in charge of the Western Balkans Growth Plan, spoke today in Serbia with President Aleksandar Vučić, as well as representatives of the civil sector about the obligations that Serbia needs to fulfill in order to be able to continue with its European path, that is, the opening of Cluster 3, for which it is necessary, as the EU has repeatedly pointed out, for Belgrade to agree on a set of so-called Mrdić’s laws with the recommendations of the Venice Commission, the adoption of the remaining laws in accordance with the recommendations of the ODIHR on the improvement of the electoral process, as well as the formation of REM, which has not been constituted for 19 months.

Maja Stojanović from Civic Initiatives, when asked where the last attempt to constitute the REM Council got stuck, points out that all nine of its members should be independent, but it has been established in the public that four are independent, four are close to the state and one is from the Council of National Minorities, however, that it all depends on the proposer.

“We have some proponents, such as the Association of Electronic Media, which are already under the control of the state, and candidates who are close to the authorities often come to us from those areas, but all nine candidates should be independent. We had that process, it lasted a year and a few days last year, and in that process nine candidates were elected. We got to the Assembly and then in the Assembly that last candidate was not elected precisely because the authorities concluded that they could only control four candidates out of all those candidates,” explains Stojanović.

He adds that the government repeated the process for the ninth candidate (from among national minorities) and for four independent candidates, who in the meantime said that they will not work in such a REM, “and now we have both processes stopped, the status quo, nothing happened, the law is still being broken because we do not have a REM”.

When asked if the ninth place belongs to the National Council of Hungarians, as claimed by the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, Stojanović confirms that the place belongs to the national councils, but who will get that place depends on the procedure and who decides to run for a candidate.

“In the first process, which functioned as it should, we had the National Council of Hungarians, Bosniaks and Albanians, however, in the end, since the Hungarian candidate was outvoted, the authorities decided not to choose a candidate in that area, and that’s where the area stopped,” she says.

He adds that it is not a violation of the law that one candidate was not selected, but the way in which the process leading up to the selection of the candidate was conducted, he points out, was not in accordance with the law and “that is why the big question was raised as to why we do not have a ninth candidate”.

According to her, neither civil society, nor the university, nor all other proponents are ready to participate in yet another new process.

“We have to find a solution on how to apply the law in this process. Unfortunately, I think that we and the European Union have the same view on how the law is applied, but the government is trying to find some loopholes and so far we have not been able to find a common language on how to apply the law,” he points out.

The key political will

He believes that it is crucial whether the government has the political will to form an independent REM council.

“What scares me a little is that even after Tivat and after those specific requests that the state of Serbia received from the European Union, the president again declared that he will not allow him to lose his majority in REM, which means nothing, because REM is entirely independent, and there is, in fact, the question of whether this is the right moment and whether this is a moment where the government will change its political will in order to obtain the opening of Cluster 3, which is not only for the government, but for the citizens of Serbia,” points out Stojanović and adds that the EU says that if the law is not implemented, there will be no opening of Cluster 3.

He states that this train (of expansion) is very important.

“I think it is crucial, that now that train is going very fast without us and there is an opportunity for this government to choose REM, to sort out laws on the judiciary, to have some three or four steps that will show whether the state of Serbia, I believe that the state of Serbia wants to join the European Union, but whether the government that leads this country at the moment wants to take those steps or not,” Stojanović assesses.

And as to how she interprets Vučić’s statement that there is no country where the government leaves such an important body like REM to those who did not win the elections, she says that it is a professional body, and that it has nothing to do with who won or not.

“No one who took part in the elections is in that body in any country. It is true that this body of ours is extremely regulated so that it is extremely independent due to the political situation, and that is the law that our country passed. It is again due to pressure from the civil sector and the European Union that we have to have such a solution, because we are unable to have another solution that would ensure the independence of this body,” he says.

And when asked to comment on Vučić’s statement that he does not see how the matter with REM can be resolved and whether she sees a solution, she says that “if we combine those two parts of his sentences in which he says – ‘I don’t want an independent REM and I don’t see how this can be resolved’, it is very logical to me”.

“Then I don’t see how to solve it either, because there has to be the political will of the government, that is, let’s say concretely now – the Assembly and the ruling majority, which is the SNS majority, to simply reach a solution. If that political will changes, in the sense that the government understands that this state and the government itself need that independent REM, in order to control the media scene, grant permits and other things, then a window opens for possible solutions, which of course are in accordance with the law,” said Stojanović.

However, he points out, even if the REM Council is formed, “it cannot pass anything on its knees”.

“If we want it to work according to the law, there are procedures, there are warnings to the media, there is a deadline for the media to change their policy and everything else, so let’s be very clear, even at this moment if we get an independent REM, he cannot close the media overnight, regulate the price and everything else,” he points out.

He adds that there are other problems, such as emphasizing the mandate of the RTS and RTV management boards, which he considers a big deal.

“Those governing boards choose the editor and influence the editorial policy. It’s something that comes to us now in time. The rest is the granting of licenses to the media. At this moment, of the 313 radio and television stations that broadcast their programs terrestrially, that is, of the 313 – 192, they do not have a license. So, we now, in this huge chaos when REM does not exist, we have a scene that is completely without any rules, it’s literally a circus on the media scene,” he concludes.

Watch the entire guest appearance in the video attachment:

Civil society organizations have expressed concern about the provision of the school calendar for secondary schools for the 2026/2027 school year. year, which envisages a one-day visit of students to the specialized exhibition “EXPO 2027 Belgrade”.

In the Rulebook on the calendar of educational work of secondary schools, it is stated that the annual work plan of the schools will include a one-day visit of students to the EXPO 2027 exhibition, in the period from May 17 to June 25, 2027. After the reactions of the public, the Ministry of Education announced that it was about the “possibility of a study visit”, not an obligation.

Organizations warn that such a clarification is not enough, because the Ministry’s announcement cannot replace the clarity of the regulations.

“If it is only about the possibility, why is the wording used in the rulebook that the school will foresee this visit in the annual work plan? Schools, parents, teachers and students must know whether this activity is planned as mandatory, voluntary, curricular, extracurricular or optional”, the announcement states.

The signatories of the statement point out that the Ministry must explain on what legal basis the visit to the EXPO is introduced in the annual work plans of schools, who makes the decision on its implementation, whether parental consent will be required and whether students can not participate without consequences.

In particular, it is pointed out that the Ministry calls this activity a “study visit”, but it is not clear what specific educational goals and outcomes it achieves, nor why exactly EXPO is recognized as an activity of educational importance for all schools.

“It is not in dispute that schools can organize various forms of educational work outside of school. It is in dispute that an activity that includes an organized departure of students outside of school is introduced without a clear answer to the questions of who decides, who pays, who is responsible for safety and what rights parents and students have,” said the organizations.

They also warn that the question of financing remains completely open. The public, as they state, must know who will pay for transportation, insurance, teachers’ salaries, possible meals, entrance fees and other expenses – parents, schools or the state budget.

In addition, the period scheduled for the visits, from May 17 to June 25, 2027, coincides with the end of the school year, the conclusion of grades, graduation and final activities and the end of classes for various high school classes.

The organizations request that the Ministry of Education publicly publish the expert instruction announced to the schools and clearly answer in it whether the visit is mandatory or voluntary, according to which procedure it is organized, who bears the costs and how the rights of students who do not want or cannot participate will be protected.

“The school calendar must serve education, not political promotion. Students are not attendance statistics, parents are not hidden financiers, and schools are not a logistics service for visiting exhibitions, with dubious economic purpose and legality,” the statement concludes.

Signatories:

Union of High School Students of Serbia

Građanske inicijative

The umbrella organization of the youth of Serbia

Network of organizations for children of Serbia

Where are the data on abuse and torture committed by police officers?

The report on the work of the Department of Internal Control of the MUP for 2025 did not present the structure of criminal charges filed against police officers and other employees of the ministry. The report states that out of 358 investigated criminal charges, 170 are related to corruption crimes, and 188 to other crimes. However, what is included in the other criminal acts was not specified, in contrast to 2024, when the structure of other criminal acts, including abuse and torture committed by police officers, was clearly explained. The question arises why these data are not shown for the year 2025?

Last year, numerous examples were recorded in which the police used excessive force against citizens, especially during the months of August and September.

Disturbing videos came from Valjevo on August 14, when the police brutally beat citizens who were lying on the ground and did not offer any resistance. On the videos, we saw a large number of policemen kicking and hitting and beating citizens lying on the ground with batons. In the case of a man being beaten, the policeman targeted him in the area between the legs, and on one video, the policeman can be heard asking the man he is beating, “Are you an oppositionist?“. Forensic examinations of 25 people indicated the degree of violence committed against the people of Valjev that night, but despite the evidence, there are still no people punished.

In the center of Belgrade, members of the Unit for Securing Certain Persons and Objects detained citizens, including students, and took them to the garage of the Government of Serbia. According to one of the detained students, the then commander of the JZO beat her and threatened to rape her. One student who was detained without any reason also testified about the violent behavior during the detention on the same evening by members of the JZO. He testified about the beatings he received in the Government garage and the threat from a policeman who told him that “they will shoot him”.

The public was also shocked by a video from Novi Sad showing 15 young men detained at the protest kneeling tied with their heads resting on the wall, while members of the Police Intervention Unit stand behind them. Among those detained were high school students. Several times the police used force against the citizens of Novi Sad, and tear gas and stun grenades were also used in the interventions. In one of the police interventions in that city, an elderly fellow citizen was also injured, after the policeman pushed him from behind, and then the elderly man fell and hit his head on the curb.

The list of cases of police brutality is long, and these are just a few examples:

• a policeman who hits a student from Nis several times in the head
• a policeman who hits a woman with a baton at a protest in Belgrade
• violent beating of demonstrators lying on the ground recorded in Belgrade
• citizens of Novi Sad were forced to lie on the ground for an hour during the protest in September, which made some of them sick
• the police also beat an 18-year-old young man from Novi Pazar after taking him into custody without any reason
• the bloody face of a female student after the intervention of the police at a protest in Belgrade

The only thing we haven’t seen is that someone is held accountable for all this violence and brutality.

Let’s remind you, according to Article 137 of the Criminal Code: “The criminal offense of abuse and torture is punishable by up to one year in prison. If the use of force, threats, or other illegal means causes great pain or severe suffering to another person with the aim of obtaining a confession, statement or other information from him or a third party or to intimidate, illegally punish or discriminate against him or a third party, the punishment is up to five years in prison. If in these two cases the act is committed by an official in the performance of his duties, he will be punished with imprisonment of up to three years, that is, up to ten years”, and we ask SUK why it hides information about initiated procedures for abuse and torture and inflicting serious physical injuries? It remains unclear whether such actions were initiated at all, and SUK is obliged to provide answers to the public and all victims of police brutality against citizens during the 2025 protests.

Despite many years of pointing out by civil society organizations and international bodies to cases of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, exceeding police powers and illegal use of force, with numerous publicly available evidence and documented cases, the Department of Internal Control has not shown the capacity or willingness to ensure effective accountability of police officers.

That is why the new Draft Law on Internal Affairs represented an opportunity to remove the long-standing weaknesses of the police supervision system. However, that opportunity was missed. The draft does not ensure the real institutional and operational independence of the Internal Control Sector, nor does it establish mechanisms that would guarantee its independence and efficiency in investigating allegations of illegal behavior by police officers. Instead of strengthening accountability and independent oversight, the proposed solutions leave existing structural deficiencies intact.

Source: TV Nova

June 7, 2026.

On the list of things that the state is expected to do is the formation of the REM Council. Serbia has not had a Regulatory Body for Electronic Media for almost two years. After several attempts, the Assembly elected eight members of the Council, but did not elect the ninth among the candidates of the Albanian and Bosniak Council of National Minorities. Therefore, the selection process in that category was repeated, and a month after the selection, Rodoljub Šabić, Mileva Malešić, Ira Prodanov Krajišnik and Dubravka Valić Nedeljković submitted their resignations. Other elected members receive a salary, but do not work and cannot work because the Council has not been formed.

What is the solution? One of the questions is for Maja Stojanović from Civic Initiatives, who are one of the proponents. Watch the guest appearance in the video attachment: