The Serbian regime has once again disgraced the very idea of democracy — this time by staging what Freedom and Justice Party MP Branko Miljuš called a “soap opera” over the election of the REM Council, the body responsible for regulating the country’s media.
What should have been a transparent, democratic process turned into yet another theatrical farce directed by the ruling SNS, with Prime Minister Ana Brnabić performing every role — from mediator to lottery girl — in a desperate attempt to give legitimacy to a pre-arranged outcome.
“By electing a truncated and politically obedient REM, the government has sent a clear message: travel to Europe, but don’t wait for us,” Miljuš declared, laying bare the regime’s defiance of European democratic norms.
The government’s refusal to vote for even one of the two previously approved independent candidates reveals its deep fear of accountability and media freedom. Instead of a pluralistic media council, Serbia now has a regime-controlled apparatus designed to protect propaganda outlets and silence dissent.
Miljuš sharply noted that the Progressives depend on television stations as “machines for grinding down dissenters”, turning them into tools for manipulating public perception and spreading absurd conspiracy theories — like the recent claim that a deadly canopy collapse was not caused by corruption but by “sabotage.” Even the European Commission’s latest report highlighted such fabrications as evidence of the regime’s authoritarian drift.
Independent candidates had already warned Brnabić that failing to elect all nine REM members would undermine every promise of electoral reform and make a mockery of the government’s supposed “European path.” The warning was ignored.
“After today’s vote,” Miljuš concluded, “the message from Belgrade to Brussels is unmistakable — we’re not joining you, and we don’t care to pretend anymore.”
With this latest political charade, the Vučić-Brnabić regime has once again chosen control over freedom, deception over transparency, and isolation over Europe. Serbia’s democracy, it seems, is not just under attack — it is being systematically dismantled, one staged vote at a time.
