Serbia’s researchers still at loggerheads with government one year into mass protests

Many of Serbia’s academics were out on the streets at the weekend, joining student-led protests marking one year since the collapse of a train station canopy that killed 16 people in Novi Sad. Students blamed the collapse on alleged government corruption, and started still ongoing mass demonstrations that included blocking roads, university faculties and laboratories.

What started as demands for justice slowly turned into a wider movement calling for political change. This was met with oppression and growing restrictions on academic freedom and democracy, according to students and academics. These restrictions included a directive in March that limited academics to spending five hours a week on research – an eighth of their time.