Serbia does not stop academic cooperation with Russia after an appeal from Ukraine

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia has not made recommendations for the termination of cooperation with higher education institutions from other countries, the ministry told Radio Free Europe in the Serbian language (RSE).

The issue of cooperation between Serbian educational institutions and those abroad, primarily with Russia, has been put in the spotlight after the dismissal of the dean of the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad, Branislav Ristivojevic.

The recent visit of a group of students from that higher education institution to the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Belgrade was a prelude to his dismissal from office, which then turned into a political issue.

“It is about sanctioning Russia, despite the fact that Serbia has not imposed sanctions on it. Someone there is trying to be a bigger Catholic than the Pope, contrary to state policy, they want to prevent the exchange and cooperation of students,” Miloš Jovanović, president of the right-wing political party, the New Democratic Party of Serbia, told RSE. (NDSS), whose official dean Ristivojevic is dismissed.

To date, Serbia has not made a decision to join the international community’s sanctions against Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine and, according to statements by senior officials, it has no plans to do so.

While declaring that there were no recommendations for the termination of cooperation with Russia, the Ministry of Education emphasizes that they respect the autonomy of universities, which is guaranteed by the Constitution of Serbia.

“Higher education institutions are autonomous in making decisions on the creation and implementation of inter-university and international cooperation”, adds the Ministry.

The dismissed professor Ristivojevic, at the same time an official of the New DSS, did not want to talk about the dismissal for RSE.

He told Danas newspaper that the Council of the Faculty of Law dismissed him after he sent interested students to apply for scholarships from the Russian Federation.

“They blame me for approving it at a politically sensitive moment, but I don’t know what it has to do with the scholarships,” Ristivojevic said.

More reasons to change dean

On the other hand, the Faculty of Law of Novi Sad announced, among other things, that Ristivojevic independently organized the departure of students to the Russian embassy without the decision of the competent Academic and Teaching Council, contrary to the Statute of the Faculty and that he did not submit a report for any kind of cooperation.

“The politicized accusations regarding the alleged imposition of sanctions against Russia are incorrect. As always, we are open for scientific and professional cooperation with everyone, including, of course, institutions from the Russian Federation”, declared the Faculty of Law.

As some of the reasons for Ristivojevic’s dismissal on July 7, that higher education institution cited arbitrary actions outside the competence of the dean and his damaged relations with three of the four vice-deans, which, she added, calls into question the tranquility and functioning of Faculty.

The Faculty of Law in Novi Sad, as stated on its website, cooperates with higher education institutions from Russia, Ukraine, as well as with a large number of faculties from other countries, from China to the United States of America.

After the dismissal of Professor Ristivojevic, Ratko Ristić, the University of Belgrade’s vice president for international cooperation, said publicly that since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he had personally received several letters demanding that Serbia cease educational cooperation with Russian universities.

“There was pressure from Ukraine, a request came from the Ivan Franko University to abolish the Russian Center at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade. I received suggestions from some colleagues from Western Europe, even open requests, to suspend cooperation with Russian universities”, said Ristiq to RSE.

Ristiq said that the University will not stop international cooperation.

“Our position has been to act according to the signed protocols and memoranda of understanding. We will not mix the domain of university activities with some other events”.

What does the Ukrainian university letter say?

The Ukrainian “Ivan Franko” University confirmed to Radio Free Europe that on March 10, 2022, it sent a letter to the University of Belgrade signed by rector Volodymyr Melnik.

“We know that there is a Russian center at your university, and we are convinced that it is important to stop the activity of such centers because they are very often at the service of Russian propaganda,” the letter states, among other things.

It is added that if the Russian Center in Serbia continues its work, cooperation between the Ivan Franko University and the University of Belgrade is not possible.

According to the data of the University of Belgrade, currently 23 contracts have been signed with universities from the Russian Federation.

The war in Ukraine

Sociologist Ratko Bozhovic tells Radio Free Europe that Ristivojevic’s initiative was made at a delicate moment, when the pro-Russian atmosphere created by certain politicians has spread to education.

Here the dean will be an example of punishment, while somehow the most important of the political ranks are embarrassed.

Ratko Bozhović, a sociologist, is an example of punishment, while at the same time, the most important people from the ranks of politics are somehow excluded”, concludes Bozhović.

For Zoran Stojiljkovic, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Ristivojevic’s departure is controversial.

“In this case, it should be seen how much is a matter of common practice or goes outside the protocol. The visits of foreign ambassadors to the faculties and their lectures are a legitimate practice at the university”, added Stojiljkovic.

He recalls that a significant number of professors in faculties in Serbia are politically active, and that faculty council members often come from politics.

“Unfortunately, in the councils, we have more representatives of the so-called wider community, who are elected by political institutions, than representatives of the collectives and the students themselves”, concluded Stojiljkovic.

Who is Branislav Ristivojevic?

Professor Branislav Ristivojević, whose action caused a political chain reaction, in the April elections was on the list of the NADA coalition, which also included the Democratic Party of Serbia, from which the New DSS, a national-conservative party that opposes the imposition of sanctions against Russia and advocates strengthening cooperation with Moscow.

Today, Ristivojevic is a deputy in the Assembly of Vojvodina.

In his public appearances, he presented qualifications at the expense of women and members of the LGBT community, which is why he ended up in court after a lawsuit filed by the Commissioner for Gender Equality Brankica Stanković.

In the author’s text, he linked the increase in violence to the organization of the Pride Parade in Serbia and insulted members of the LGBT community.

Speaking about domestic violence, he stated that the misunderstanding that “thugs” are responsible for the violence has shifted part of the responsibility to women.

And while the Supreme Court convicted him of hate speech and discrimination, which is a criminal offense in Serbia, and the Court of Appeal took a different stance, the case ended up in the Supreme Court of Cassation, which acquitted Ristivojevic of the charges in August 2020. .

During Branislav Ristivojevic’s tenure, the Faculty of Law, led by him, faced several lawsuits and accusations that the institution discriminated against future students of Hungarian nationality.

Accordingly, that institution of higher education in some cases has refused or set additional conditions for giving the entrance exam in the native language, which according to the legal acts of the founder, namely the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is actually an obligation of the faculty.

The process against the Faculty of Law began in 2015 at the initiative of the Association of Hungarian Students of Vojvodina, but even after seven years the situation is not clear, because different levels of the judiciary have interpreted the measures of the Faculty of Law. ,that is, there is no entrance exam in the native languages ​​of the minorities in that faculty. /RSE