Serbia's academic community has entered open confrontation with the government after hundreds of riot police forcibly removed students and professors from the Philosophy Faculty at the University of Novi Sad on January 21, prompting immediate warnings from the European Democrats party and triggering university-wide class boycotts.
The police action, which saw officers in riot gear clear a faculty building where students had established a blockade, has crystallized growing tensions between Serbia's academic institutions and President Aleksandar Vučić's government over university autonomy and academic freedom—issues that reach to the heart of Serbia's EU accession negotiations.
"Vučiću, nisi nevidljiv na radaru," the European Democrats declared in a statement directed at the Serbian president—"You are not invisible on the radar." The party emphasized that "when a government sends police into a university, it sends a clear message: dissent is unwelcome."
The confrontation began with the dismissal of Professor Jelena Kleut, which students and faculty say violated institutional procedures. When protesters occupied the Philosophy Faculty building, authorities responded with overwhelming force. "What students describe as police brutality has transformed a local dispute into a test case for Serbian democracy," according to N1 reporting from the scene.
By January 22, students across the entire University of Novi Sad had initiated a comprehensive class boycott. "We know that a year of our blockade means nothing to them, but we stand again," student representative Boris Kojčinović explained, "because protection of university standards matters more than individual academic timelines."
