site.btaDemonstration in Defence of University Academic Autonomy Held in Belgrade

Тhousands of people gathered outside the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade on Tuesday evening, following a call by students taking part in the blockade of faculties and demanding the convening of snap parliamentary elections.

The participants in the demonstration, held under the slogan “Knowledge Is Power,” called for a fight against what they described as the collapse of the education system and university autonomy. They accused the government of attempting to establish “direct political control” over faculties in Serbia’s four university cities.

Addressing the crowd, University of Belgrade Rector Prof. Vladan Dokic said that no government had ever “acted so persistently and maliciously toward the academic community simply because that community refused to remain silent.”

He spoke about the various forms of pressure faced by faculties, ranging from police actions to the dismissal of professors and economic pressure.

“I want to encourage members of the academic community to join the defence of university autonomy. I call on the competent institutions to ensure the autonomy of universities guaranteed by law,” Prof. Dokic said.

“I am a third-year engineering student, and it is very difficult for me to cope. I know I will succeed, but that is because I was raised to believe that knowledge is power, not violence. I am outraged to see actions taken from a position of force and malice against our professors who supported us during the blockades,” student Jovana Dragina told the Bulgarian News Agency.

At the end of 2024, students blocked more than 60 faculties across the country and led mass protests following a tragedy in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad. On November 1 of that year, a concrete canopy at the city’s railway station collapsed, killing 16 people and seriously injuring one.

The January 27 protest was held on the national and religious holiday dedicated to Saint Sava, the patron saint of schools and education.

After the Rector’s speech in front of the University of Belgrade Rectorate, protesters marched through central Belgrade toward the Church of Saint Sava.

The protest took place days after police entered the building of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad and forcibly removed students who had been organizing a blockade over the dismissal of a professor who had been an active participant in protests that have been ongoing for more than a year.