Only one of the three demands of the professors of the University of Belgrade was fulfilled, so they decided to remain in the blockade in front of the Government of Serbia and to fight for their rights.
While students and professors have been resisting the regime of Aleksandar Vučić for months, the government retaliates with economic pressure and attacks on academic autonomy. In an interview for Vreme, Professor Tanasije Marinković explains why the university has become the last line of defense of a free society and why the government wants to break it.
The dean of the Faculty of Physics in Belgrade, Voja Radovanović, expects the controversial decree that affects the functioning of the University to be repealed
While the professors are protesting in front of the Serbian Government building for the second day, the Rector of the University of Belgrade Vladan Đokić and the Prime Minister Đuro Matsut reached an agreement on the topics that were the reason for going out on the streets. It is still unknown whether the protest will be stopped
On the basis of this agreement, the Government of Serbia and the University of Belgrade will undertake all activities necessary for the organization of the entrance exam for the enrollment of the new generation of freshmen
Although the rector of the University of Belgrade claims that the meeting with Prime Minister Đuro Macuta was more constructive than previous ones, the key demands of the academic community still do not have concrete answers. While the Government announces possible solutions, students and professors say that time is running out - the "Faculty at the Crossroads" protest is already on the streets.
Teaching-scientific councils will be held at most Belgrade faculties, where they will discuss some aspects of the start of classes and compensation for the winter semester.
The "Vremena" source says that at the FPN Teaching and Research Council there was a heated debate between the professors and that harsh words were exchanged.
The teaching staff of the Faculty of Philosophy demands that the Regulation on norms and standards of working conditions be repealed, that their salaries be returned and that the process of changing the Law on Higher Education be stopped.
"Do you now understand that we will not give up?", students of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering wrote on their official account after the referendum with the question: return to classes, or continuation of the blockade
An older student, who enrolled at the Faculty of Law in 2015, beat the professor of obligation law, Marija Karanikić Mirić, and the security guard, who came to her aid.
"We need time to democratically and academically harmonize attitudes and actions", stated the University of Belgrade after a meeting of students, deans and rectors
The President of the Conference of Universities of Serbia and Rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, was faced with the act of practically defending the university by himself against 19 other members of the Working Group, for whom there are justified doubts that they will defend the party's interest, not the academic interest, even though there are people among them who know the difference very well. We cannot know what will be found in the new Law, although there is already a lot of speculation about it. It remains to be seen whether the Government will appoint rectors and deans, how renegade faculties will be punished under the tutelage of performance indicators and whether vouchers will be distributed.
At the meeting of the rectors, deans and students of the University of Belgrade, they discussed the situation at the University, the blockade of classes and the steps that the faculties and students should take. After the meeting, the participants did not make statements
In a statement signed by Rector Vladan Đokić, the University of Belgrade said that students are not the cause of the current crisis, but that a solution is possible only through dialogue and the joint effort of all actors of the academic community. Along with the call to preserve the continuity of education and enrollment of new generations, the question also arises - how do professors see the current situation and what are their expectations
Applications for the determination of non-academic behavior against the Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stanković were sent to the Ethics Commission of the Faculty of Teacher Education
"Higher education must not be the point at which the responsibility of other institutions breaks", announced the University of Belgrade, and they urge that it is necessary to ensure the conditions for the end of the school year
Another meeting of representatives of the Government and the university was held - without much progress
The university calls for a dialogue with the students, in order to fulfill their demands and create conditions for the continuation of the school year, the regular completion of which is seriously threatened.
At the meeting of the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, with the leaders of the University of Belgrade, they discussed the persecution and targeting of the academic community, as well as the need to initiate a broad social dialogue.
"If a way out of this situation is not found, the rector and the deans will be remembered in history as the people who destroyed higher education institutions, i.e. the University of Belgrade and various faculties," said the President of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabić to TV Prva
The Dean of the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, Bojan Milisavljević, and the members of the Faculty's Management submitted their resignations on Wednesday evening (April 30).
After one held and another canceled, a new meeting was held between the rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, and the Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia, Đur Matsut.
After one held and another canceled meeting, the Prime Minister of Serbia Đuro Macut and the rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, are again sitting at the same table
Ministers often call Vučić a class teacher. There is no joy or critical reflection in his classroom. Everyone has to bow their heads over the benches, hum and listen. What this is about, the reader sees on television every day
The invitation to continue the dialogue on Monday or Tuesday was sent by the University of Belgrade to Serbian Prime Minister Đur Matsut. What has happened so far?
Rector Vladan Đokić informed Prime Minister Đur Matsut that he could not come to the meeting in the Government building because he had received a new criminal complaint. The applicant is again a "student who wants to study" Miloš Pavlović. The Prosecutor's Office says that no new hearing of the rector has been scheduled or planned
