Vucic Invites Belgrade University Rector’s Board for Talks

Belgrade University Rectorate (BetaPhoto/Milos Miskov)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has invited the Rector’s Board of the University of Belgrade for a meeting on Feb. 5 at a time convenient to them, to open a dialogue toward finding a solution to the ongoing blockade of classes at higher education institutions.

The University of Belgrade management will have an official response to the president’s invitation in place on Feb. 5, state public broadcaster RTS has unofficially learned at the University.

The Belgrade Faculty of Law students have urged the Rector’s Board, comprising the rector and four vice-rectors, to decline the invitation.

Vucic has said his call for talks is for the benefit of not only the young people, but of the entire society, while the Rector’s Office has said that no statements or comments will be issued before an official response to the invitation has been ready.

The tragedy at the Novi Sad Railways Station on Nov. 1 last year, when a concrete canopy collapsed killing 15 people, has triggered blockades of higher education buildings, where no lectures or any other type of classroom activities, nor exams have been held since.