Zagreb Society of Philosophy Students Supports Student Protests in Serbia

Zagreb (BETAPHOTO/EMIL VAS)

Members of the Society of Philosophy Students and several members of the Department of Philosophy at the Zagreb University School of Philosophy supported on Feb. 6 student protests in Serbia and voiced their solidarity with them.

"As academic citizens, professors and philosophy students, and above all humanists, we cannot ignore efforts to preserve and sustain constitutionally guaranteed rights," they said in a letter of support. They added that the political regime that students in Serbia had risen up against propagated values that were not in the spirit of academic and civil freedoms and thereby "have a major impact on the quality and purpose of education."

"The ruling political regime in Serbia is refusing to assume responsibility for the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy and is thereby, hushing up, censoring and sabotaging the protests. In this way the civil rights of freedom of expression and movement are being limited," the letter said.

They added that students and professors of the Zagreb School of Philosophy had been cooperating with students and professors at the Serbian School of Philosophy within different conferences, festivals and similar events. "Regional cooperation and support are very important not just for joint development in an academic framework, but progress in political and social relations between the two neighboring countries. International cooperation can lead to favorable conditions for improving the situation in the region, due to which it is of immeasurable importance that the necessary conditions for education in Serbia to continue are ensured," they said.