Since late 2024, large-scale student-led protests have shaped the Serbian political and higher education landscapes, triggered by the 1 November collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad that resulted in 16 deaths. These demonstrations, which cantered on demands for institutional accountability, led to sustained friction between the government and the higher education community. Tensions escalated significantly following the death of a 25-year-old student on 26 March 2026, at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Philosophy. While initial reports suggested the tragedy occurred after pyrotechnics were set off inside the building, the specific circumstances surrounding the fall remain a subject of investigation. 

On March 31, the Serbian Directorate of Criminal Police conducted an 11-hour search of the university’s Rectorate, an event that has met with conflicting interpretations. Police Director Dragan Vasiljević stated that officers acted under a court order to secure evidence of potential negligence related to the student's death, reporting the discovery of flares, gas masks, and protest banners. Following the search, Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stanković asserted that the state must take a more direct role in managing faculties to ensure student safety. Conversely, Rector Vladan Đokić and university leadership argued the raid lacked a transparent legal basis and was a disproportionate intimidation tactic. They alleged that police seized servers and hard drives unrelated to the death investigation and noted that the operation was live-streamed by pro-government media, which they cited as evidence of political instrumentalisation. 

These concerns have been reinforced by wider allegations of pressure on Serbia’s academic community. Some Serbian academics say university and research-sector staff have faced retaliatory dismissals, stalled promotions, leadership changes, funding delays, and restrictions on paid research time because of their support for the student protests.  

The international higher education community has responded to these developments with several formal statements. The European University Association (EUA) expressed concern over the “continued erosion of institutional autonomy,” while the Coimbra Group described the police intervention as a “worrying escalation.” The European University Foundation (EUF), which counts the University of Belgrade as a member, questioned the proportionality and transparency of the raid, calling that universities remain free from undue pressure or political instrumentalisation. Similarly, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU)—closely linked to Belgrade through the Circle U. European University Alliance—issued a strong condemnation, stating that as alliance partners, any threat to the university’s independence "concerns us all."