Speaker of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabic sharply criticized University of Belgrade Rector Vladan Djokic, claiming he acted like a coward after being questioned by authorities regarding the recent university blockades.
“You expect that someone in education – whether a teacher, professor, dean, or rector – will always defend students. No matter what happens, even if there are allegations of legal violations, they should stand up and say: ‘Blame me, not the students.’ That’s what I would’ve expected. But what did Rector Djokic do? He said, ‘I’m not responsible, I didn’t support the blockades, I didn’t order the suspension of classes.’ Is this where we are now – having people in education deny any responsibility and shift all the blame onto the students? He basically said, ‘The students caused the blockades, I wanted everything to run normally, and I couldn’t act because no dean informed me about class cancellations,’” Brnabic stated.
She added that the rector “hid behind” both the students and the academic community just to avoid blame.
“He just didn’t want to be held responsible. That’s what I call cowardice,” Brnabic said, calling it the most disgraceful behavior she’s ever seen.
According to her, Djokic publicly claims to support students, but when legal consequences appear, he distances himself from them – while still trying to position himself as a leader.
“You want to know what real leadership looks like? When President Aleksandar Vucic visited the victims of the tragic fire in Kocani, students were demanding that someone be held accountable. And what did he say? He stepped forward and said: ‘Blame me. Not the nurse, not the chief – I take responsibility.’ That’s what a real leader does,” Brnabic added.
She also reminded the public that Article 43, Paragraph 10 of the Law on Higher Education clearly prohibits political, party, or religious activities within universities.
“When we eventually see the electoral list of the new G17+ movement – Initiative 60 – which is clearly preparing a political list for future elections (after failing to achieve a transitional government, as President Vucic told them), we’ll then have official confirmation that another law has been broken. Because the Higher Education Law has already been violated for the past five months,” she said.
Classes Slowly Returning, Brnabic Says
When asked if the Ministry of Education will bring order to the universities, Brnabic said she expects classes to slowly resume and mentioned the Medical Faculty in Nis as an example.
“They’ve started holding online lectures again, despite the harassment and verbal abuse – from deans to students who simply want to continue their education. Classes are being held, and more students are coming back,” Brnabic noted.
She also commented on how media linked to tycoon Dragan Solak are now using student numbers as a valid argument.
“I found it amusing today when Solak’s media reported that only around five percent of Medical Faculty students in Nis are attending lectures. Suddenly, the numbers matter. But five percent attending is still 4.5 percent more than those involved in blockades,” she concluded.
