The recently appointed Prime Minister of Serbia Dr. Đuro Macut and the Rector of the University of Belgrade Dr. Vladan Đokić, have reached a series of verbal agreements regarding the continuation of work and the “preservation of the integrity and credibility” of the University of Belgrade. Plans are in now place to hold entrance exams for new students, to pay university staff, and to repeal a decree that reduced scientific research. It was also decided today that a working group for drafting a new Law on Higher Education, which seeks to privatize higher education and replace public universities, will not be formed.
According to a statement on the University of Belgrade’s website, Prime Minister Đuro Macut and Rector Vladan Đokić agreed on upcoming activities aimed at preserving the university’s integrity and credibility, ensuring financial conditions for its operation, and creating prerequisites for the regular functioning of higher education institutions.
Based on this agreement, in the coming period the Government of Serbia and the University of Belgrade will take all necessary steps to organize entrance exams for the incoming generation of students, which is planned for the last week of July 2025.
According to unofficial information obtained by the media outlet Danas, the government is considering a model in which 50 to 60 percent of students would enroll immediately after the first application round, with the rest enrolling in September. The idea is to create a unified list after the entrance exam, then admit part of the students immediately and the rest in September. If adopted, this model would apply to all universities in Serbia. In return, faculties are expected to begin making up for the missed classes accumulated during the student blockades.
Sources cited by Danas say the Prime Minister has promised that the controversial decree, which significantly reduces research work in favor of teaching responsibilities, will be repealed in the near future. He also pledged that salaries for staff at faculties that have resumed work will soon begin to be paid. However, all of this has only been communicated verbally so far without any written guarantees, Danas reports.
At today’s parliamentary session, the Serbian government institution decided to repeal the establishment of a working group for analyzing the current state of funding and performance in higher education and for drafting a new law. This move was made in line with the agreement between the Prime Minister and the Rector of the University of Belgrade, Danas notes.
“Faculties at the Crossroads”: Academic Community Mobilizes in Front of Government
Since June 9, professors and other teaching staff have been blockading a main avenue in downtown Belgrade and say their protest will continue under their demands are fulfilled.
Protest organizers say they are fighting to preserve universities as a public good and to oppose the government’s manipulation of education for political purposes, the erosion of university autonomy, and the overall degradation of conditions in higher education.
Their demands are:
- The disbandment of the Working Group for drafting a new Law on Higher Education, due a lack of transparency, politically motivated appointments, all made without input from the academic community;
- The urgent repeal of the unconstitutional Decree on university work standards and the removal of its consequences, which seriously threaten scientific and artistic work in higher education;
- Approval of budget quotas for student admissions by the end of June to ensure the stability of public universities and security for future students.
Speaking to the media, organizers stressed that the current situation amounts to systemic repression of universities in Serbia.
“There is an attempt to destroy everything that makes a university a university — science, art, freedom of thought, integrity, and autonomy. As the academic community, we choose the path that leads to freedom, knowledge, and dignity,” was their message at a press conference.
Protesters emphasized that the academic community is not seeking privileges, but basic conditions for lawful, dignified, and free work.
They also pointed out that the state is neglecting the fundamental objective of public education, directly endangering not only the future of universities but of society as a whole.
“If the state refuses to fund public universities, it is telling us it does not want education to be accessible to all. Public universities are non-profit institutions. Funding them is a duty of the state, not a matter of political will,” they said.
The organizers called on citizens to come to the intersection in front of the Government building, get informed, ask questions, and support the protest, emphasizing that “education must remain accessible to all and this must never be called into question.”
“We are not asking for privileges, but for the right for universities to remain free and accountable to knowledge, not political directives. This is not just an academic struggle. This is a struggle for the future,” protest organizers said.
Three University Professors Arrested in Less Than 24 Hours
In less than 24 hours, three university professors were arrested in Novi Sad, including two professors who participated in protests blockading a road as well as the Dean of the Medical Faculty.
The Academic Plenum stated that the arrest of three professors from the University of Novi Sad is a blatant act of repression and retaliation by the authorities for supporting student demands.
The two professors, who were marshals during yesterday’s protests in Novi Sad, were arrested on charges of disturbing public order and peace.
According to the Plenum’s statement, one of the arrested professors was initially summoned as a witness, only to become a suspect after more than two hours of questioning.
The Dean of the Medical Faculty was also detained this morning, the statement adds, with tabloids immediately claiming it was due to excessive salary payments at the faculty, reports N1.
Students and citizens gathered today outside the Misdemeanor Court in Novi Sad. The most recent development is that Veroljub Naumović, a teaching assistant at the Academy of Arts, has been released.
A.G.A., I.M., A.M.
