The 25th “Serbia against Violence” protest was held in Belgrade. On Saturday 21 October, another protest was organized with controversial and disputed new media laws as the main theme. Opposition politicians, who are technical organizers of the protests, have told citizens that they are ready to form a “Serbia against Violence” electoral list for the snap parliamentary elections to be held in Serbia in December. (Danas (Serbian), 21 October 2023)
Opposition: Change disputed provisions on restoring state ownership of media. The pro-European opposition parties have requested that the Serbian Government amend the disputed provisions or fully withdraw from the parliamentary procedure the law allowing the company Telekom Serbia to now also legally own media outlets. This pro-European opposition parties’ request follows a reaction from the European Commission which has asked the Serbian authorities to implement the national media strategy. (N1 Belgrade, 25 October 2023)
Serbian Parliament adopts disputed media laws. On Thursday the Serbian Parliament passed the two disputed media laws which would allow the state to resume ownership of media outlets. The Law on Public Information and the Media and Law on Electronic Media were passed after a heated 3-day debate. Media organizations, experts, international and local journalist organizations have spoken up against the new laws. (N1 Belgrade, 26 October 2023)
