RECTOR ĐOKIĆ: No Government Can Defeat Its Own Youth, Students Will Win the Elections!

University of Belgrade Rector Vladan Đokić said today that the student movement will win the next elections and that “no government can defeat its own youth.”

In an interview with the weekly Vreme, Đokić said that the students are receiving growing public support while the authorities are losing it, adding that he is convinced the students will prevail whenever the elections are called.

“The students did ask me whether I would be willing to be on the electoral list, and I answered yes (…) If the students believe I can help, I will accept. However, I cannot say more because the list has not yet been finalized. The students are right not to reveal the names of the candidates before the elections are officially called,” the rector said.

Asked whether he was concerned that the student movement was “drifting too far to the right,” Đokić said he was not.

“The essence of this movement is to put political and other affiliations aside, while focusing on the rule of law, media freedom, allowing prosecutors and courts to operate independently, ensuring fair elections, and fighting corruption and organized crime. We want to live in a society based on European values. The students did not cycle to Strasbourg and run to Brussels for nothing,” the rector said.

When asked what he discusses with European officials during his visits to Brussels, Đokić said the conversations most often focus on the pressure being exerted on Serbia’s academic community.

“I explain the situation to members of the academic community there, as well as to representatives of other institutions. It is very difficult for people from genuinely democratic countries to understand that such things are happening in our country and that state universities are being treated this way. I try to alert them, warning them about intrusions into institutions, the beatings of students and professors, arrests, and court rulings such as the one handed down a few days ago in the case of student Andrej Tank,” the rector said.

According to him, he uses every opportunity to discuss with European representatives the media, administrative, legal, and financial pressures facing universities.

“The people I speak with there cannot always understand it because it is happening in a country that is a candidate for membership in the European Union. When I am there, I speak as the rector and in my personal capacity, but never as a representative of anyone else, such as the student movement,” Đokić said.