The full-day protest organized by the informal group “Rebellious University” in front of the Serbian Government building, which began on June 8, continued today for its seventh consecutive day. Traffic at the intersection of Kneza Miloša and Nemanjina streets remains interrupted, except for emergency vehicles, RFE reports.
A segment of the academic community, gathered around the “Rebellious University” initiative, has been blocking the Nemanjina and Kneza Miloša street intersection near the Serbian Government building in Belgrade since June 9. Their protest stems from a proposed version of a new law on higher education, which, they claim, privileges private faculties.
They had demanded the dissolution of the Working Group for drafting the new Law on Higher Education, which the Government subsequently announced. However, the protesters stated they would continue the blockade until all their demands are met.
Dragana Čavlović, a research associate at the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Belgrade, told N1 that the protesters believe the first of their three demands, concerning the dissolution of the Working Group, will be fulfilled. She added that relevant institutions are trying to “show progress” on the other two demands—approval of budget quotas for this year’s university enrollment and the abolition of amendments to the Regulation on University Work Standards—but that they currently have no guarantees as to when or if these will actually be met.
“The Rector (of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić) and the Prime Minister (Đuro Macut) are negotiating, but we have no indication when [the two demands] will be fulfilled. Approval of budget quotas is important, and every day that their enrollment is delayed presents a major obstacle for high school graduates and their families,” Čavlović stated.
Čavlović also mentioned that yesterday, more than 20 faculties from Serbia set up stands to present their study programs to interested parents and high school students, essentially holding “open days” that could not be organized at the faculties themselves due to the blockades. “Today is a day for students; they are leading the way today, so today’s program will be a small surprise. We invite you to join us,” Čavlović told N1.
The protest in front of the Government is titled “Faculties at the Crossroads” because, as the organizers stated, “we are all at a crossroads between submission and resistance.”
Separately, students blockading faculties across Serbia are also insisting on determining responsibility for the deaths of 16 people in the collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad Railway Station on November 1 last year. Their latest demand is for early parliamentary elections, which the authorities have so far rejected. Reacting to this student demand, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on May 16 that elections would be held within the next year and a half, and that they would be called when the relevant institutions make a decision.
