The Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU) in Belgrade has strongly condemned remarks made by Ana Brnabić, President of the National Assembly of Serbia, accusing her of publicly targeting Professor Nebojša Romčević, a move which the faculty says would constitute grounds for resignation in any state governed by the rule of law.
The reaction followed Brnabić’s comments regarding Romčević’s statement on the removal of the so-called “Ćacilend”, made during a discussion about a recent gathering marking its symbolic closure. Speaking to Beta news agency, Romčević said that the land where Ćacilend stood would need to be excavated and even replaced, so that “the roots of that weed could be brought to the surface.”
In response, Brnabić accused unnamed individuals and media outlets of promoting fascist ideas, claiming that such views represented “the most open and extreme form of fascism.” In a post on the social media platform X, she stated that people holding such views would, if in power, establish camps, strip citizens of basic rights, and engage in persecution, adding that “even the Nazis never thought of changing the soil because it was ‘contaminated’ by certain people.”
In its statement, the Faculty of Dramatic Arts said the academic community in Serbia has become accustomed to public targeting, institutional hostility, and the systematic degradation of higher education and critical thinking. However, the faculty emphasized that the latest attack was particularly alarming given that it came directly from the President of the National Assembly, one of the highest institutional offices in the country.
According to FDU, Brnabić’s remarks contained “openly dehumanizing qualifications and dangerous historical analogies”, issued from the pinnacle of legislative power. “In any legal state, such conduct would be sufficient reason for resignation,” the statement said.
The faculty described Professor Romčević as a renowned artist, theorist, and educator, whose decades-long work is deeply embedded in Serbian contemporary art and cultural identity. They stressed that his reputation cannot be tarnished by political attacks, adding that Brnabić’s public profile is instead built on direct and reckless targeting of individuals who openly criticize the current regime.
FDU also warned of a serious threat to Romčević’s personal safety, calling it a form of pressure on the entire academic community and an attempt to marginalize it through public stigmatization.
Concluding their statement, the faculty said that further appeals for restraint have become meaningless, as current officials are no longer seen as interlocutors capable of understanding responsibility, consequences, or the basic values of public discourse. They called on all citizens of Serbia who seek a well-ordered state grounded in ethical and moral principles to publicly condemn such rhetoric.
