Belgrade U Rector: University Ready to Enroll Freshmen, Government Stalling

Rector Vladan Djokic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

In a statement for the latest edition of the Nedeljnik weekly, Belgrade University Rector Vladan Djokic said that the university is ready for its newest generation of freshmen but cannot announce an official enrollment competition until the Cabinet states how many full scholarships the government will provide – a decision it has been postponing as leverage against the academic community.

According to Djokic, government members have addressed the matter in the media, claiming the decision will be issued only after the second university semester and all exam periods are concluded.

“Such stipulations are against regulations, illogical and malicious. The enrollment of the newest generation of freshmen is not contingent upon the conclusion of the previous school year, in which they graduated from secondary school. It is clear that the University of Belgrade is deliberately being put at a disadvantage compared to other public and private higher education institutions,” the rector stated.

Djokic expressed his belief that his professors and students will together, without the loss of an academic year and with deepened mutual trust, preserve the university’s reputation.

“The University has endured occupation, two world wars, states of emergency, but has never been subject to such systemic undermining on part of its own state government. We are being led to defeat not by the halt in lectures, but by the disunity, divisions and conflicts which are openly desired, created and heightened by the regime,” said Djokic.

The rector concluded by asserting that the University will remain involved and supportive of the students blockading their schools and departments regardless of whether lectures continue in some format.