A prominent opposition lawmaker has accused President Aleksandar Vučić of reverting to his radical wartime political roots, warning that a newly proposed education reform bill is designed to systematically purge and discipline dissident university professors and students.
Branko Miljuš, a Member of Parliament and presidency member of the opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), issued a blistering public statement on Monday. He argued that the ruling regime’s aggressive rhetoric, combined with targeted legislative maneuvers, signals a return to the authoritarian “tradecraft” of Vučić’s political mentor, the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Šešelj.
1. The Ghost of 1998: Academic Freedom Under Direct Threat
Miljuš drew a direct historical parallel between the upcoming 2026 educational policy push and the notorious 1998 University Law, which was authored and enforced while Vojislav Šešelj served as Deputy Prime Minister and Vučić served as Information Minister.
Historical Parallels: 1998 vs. 2026 Educational Laws
[ THE 1998 PURGE ] ──► TOTAL ACADEMIC SUBJUGATION
• The Šešelj-designed law stripped universities of autonomy, leading to the immediate
firing and banishment of over 200 professors and assistants from Belgrade University.
[ THE 2026 BLUEPRINT ] ──► RE-DISCIPLINING THE INTELLECTUALS
• Critics argue the new bill targets modern faculty members and student leaders who have
spearheaded recent mass anti-regime blockades across major cities.
[ THE PROPAGANDA LOOP ] ──► CHORAL STATE MEDIA ATTACKS
• State-aligned tabloids and broadcasters are accused of systematically labeling non-compliant
educators and students as "foreign agents," "traitors," and "enemies of the state."
2. Regional Incursions and Communist Party Alliances
The SSP representative expanded his critique beyond academic policy, pointing to recent foreign policy actions that he claims mimic the destabilization tactics deployed by radical nationalists in the late 1990s.
Broader Authoritarian Tactics Flagged by the SSP
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ [ THE MONTENEGRO CHARTER OPERATION ] ─────────────────────────────┐ │
│ • Miljuš accused Vučić of copying a 30-year-old Šešelj playbook by │ │
│ flying a plane full of imported political loyalists into Tivat │ │
│ solely to stage a choreographed political presence. │
│ │ │
│ [ GLOBAL AUTHORITARIAN EXPANSION ] ───────────────────────────────┤ │
│ • The opposition heavily criticized a newly minted partnership pact │ │
│ signed between the ruling SNS and the Communist Party of China. │
│ │ │
│ [ SHARED VALUE SYSTEMS ] ─────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ • The SSP warns that the ruling party is explicitly importing single-party│
│ governance values, media restrictions, and surveillance norms from Beijing.│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
“Šešelj’s best student, Aleksandar, learned absolutely nothing from history. He is introducing a new law on education simply to punish and silence the teachers, professors, and students who refuse to bow to his regime.”
— Branko Miljuš, MP and SSP Presidency Member
3. The Path Forward: Demanding ODIHR Compliance
To counter the widening autocratic shift and restore basic civil norms, the Freedom and Justice Party is conditioning future political processes on the comprehensive implementation of European democratic guardrails.
| Democratic Reform Pillar | Current Regime Practice | SSP / ODIHR Mandate |
| Voter Autonomy | Widespread institutional pressure on public sector workers to maintain party loyalty. | Complete elimination of voter blackmail and independent tracking of workplace coercion. |
| Electoral Integrity | Exploitation of state resources, media domination, and highly engineered voter registries. | Full adoption of ODIHR recommendations to guarantee verifiable, clean, and transparent elections. |
| Geopolitical Realignment | Deepening institutional ties with non-democratic states like China. | Returning to a genuine democratization path to unlock stalled EU integration chapters. |
Miljuš concluded that without a total overhaul of the electoral framework according to international standards, the regime will continue to use legislative levers—whether in the ballot box or the university lecture hall—as weapons to suppress the democratic opposition.
