Belgrade U Rector: Regime Cannot Defeat Youth

Rector Vladan Djokic (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

Belgrade University Rector Vladan Djokic has opined that Serbia’s anti-regime university student movement will win the next parliamentary elections and that “no regime can defeat its [country’s] youth.”

In an interview for the July 16 edition of the Vreme weekly, Djokic said that support for the students is growing while support for the regime is dropping and added that he is convinced the youth movement will win the early elections whenever they are held.

“The students have asked whether I’d join their ticket and I answered affirmatively. . . If the students believe I can help, I’ll accept. But I cannot say [for sure] given that the ticket is not yet complete. The students are right not to make public the names of their candidates before the elections are called,” the rector concluded.

Asked whether he fears the youth movement is “veering too far right,” Djokic said no.

“The essence of the movement is to put aside political and other stances and to focus on the rule of law, the liberation of the media, on prosecutors’ offices and courts operating freely, on fair elections, on prosecuting corruption and crime. On living in a society with European values. The university students didn’t ride bikes to Strasbourg and run on foot to Brussels for no reason,” Djokic said.

Queried on the topics he discusses with EU officials when he visits Brussels, Djokic answered that the most frequent agenda items pertain to the pressures Serbia’s academic community continues to endure.