Like a youthful rebel, a man in a suit and tie sits, speaking through a megaphone to the gathered crowd about the “authorities’ crackdown on freedom of thought”. That man on the balcony is Vladan Đokić, head of the most important higher education institution in Belgrade.
He is addressing a protest after police entered and searched the Rectorate building in Kapetan Miša’s Mansion for hours, explaining that they were continuing an investigation into the death of a female student from the nearby Faculty of Philosophy a few days earlier. “Perhaps we do not know who the prime minister will be, but we do know who the president will be,” read posts on several social media accounts run by protesting students beneath a photograph of Rector Đokić with his hand raised and fist clenched.
Less than five years ago, Đokić was appointed rector of the University of Belgrade (UB), and during his tenure so far, he has moved from being contested to, in the eyes of many within the academic community, acting as a barrier between the authorities and the students.
“I am not at a hearing,” he replied to Ana Brnabić, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia and a senior official of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), at a session of the parliamentary Committee on Higher Education convened urgently at her request. She said she wanted to hear from the rector and deans of various faculties about the situation in these institutions following student protests and blockades triggered by the tragedy in Novi Sad on 1 November 2024.
From the outset, the 63-year-old Đokić supported the student blockades, while representatives of the authorities – either directly or through media – attempted to discredit him. Even before his appointment as rector, critics had linked his name to the construction of the luxury Belgrade Waterfront development in the Serbian capital.
Đokić, a former dean of the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade for three terms, became rector in 2021, succeeding Ivanka Popović. At a session of the University Council, in which the authorities also have representatives, he received more votes than the then-rector Popović.
Opponents accused him of being close to the SNS, which he denied.
Đokić, who completed his master’s degree in Los Angeles and earned his doctorate in Belgrade, was re-elected rector in 2024 as the sole candidate.
“My impression is that the rector has positioned himself quite well in relations between the Senate and the Government. That is quite difficult, and when one looks at that aspect of his management of the university, it seems to me that he has acted properly, striving to protect the university, and I think that is one of the reasons why he was the only candidate,” said Vladimir Popović, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, speaking to Danas daily at the time.
Seven years before his first election as rector, he was a member of a working group drafting a plan for the luxury Belgrade Waterfront development. That riverside project, still under construction and strongly backed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, has drawn numerous criticisms from the opposition and some experts.
Although Đokić was a member of the working group, he was not present at the meeting where approval for construction was granted, according to BIRN.
A controversial election as Rector
“We should get used to the idea that elections imply multiple candidates and a genuine possibility of choice – that, after all, is democracy,” Đokić said during the campaign for rector of the University of Belgrade.
The rector is elected at a session of the University Council, a 41-member body, including 12 appointed by the government and six by the University’s Student Parliament. At the time of Đokić’s election, the state’s representative was then Belgrade mayor Zoran Radojičić, while two SNS officials were also among the members – a former dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and a former Minister of Culture.
A group of UB professors accused former Minister of Education Mladen Šarčević of lobbying for Đokić, Blic reported at the time.
Šarčević, then a special adviser to the prime minister and president on education and science reform, rejected the accusations but said he would “prefer Đokić to be rector because he believes reforms would be more successful”.
His statement was criticised by Srbijanka Turajlić, a former professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, who died in 2022. “Šarčević is the last person who should be making such decisions – let us not give him importance he does not deserve. He played that game on behalf of the one who makes all the decisions in this country, and that is Aleksandar Vučić. We can only watch as a university community dies and hope that its autonomy will return – when and how, I do not know,” she added at the time.
Some also criticised the nomination process itself.
He was proposed by four professors from the Faculty of Architecture, rather than by departmental councils, as Đokić himself had previously urged, BIRN reported.
The authorities helped him get elected, and at the time he was described as having been “unpleasantly and inappropriately sycophantic towards President Aleksandar Vučić,” said Ana Brnabić.
University autonomy in focus
“University autonomy” has been one of the central issues since student groups launched faculty blockades across Serbia, while the authorities sought to counter them and exert pressure on faculty administrations in various ways.
Đokić referred precisely to this autonomy during a protest outside the Rectorate in Belgrade on 31 March 2026, following the police investigation in the building. The police entered “without prior notice, without clear legal grounds, and without respect for the autonomy of the oldest and most prestigious educational institution in Serbia,” Đokić said from the Rectorate balcony.
“The University of Belgrade fully respects the rule of law. We support every lawful investigation. But what happened today has nothing to do with an investigation. It was about intimidation,” he added.
He soon received a response from the top of the government.
Đokić delivered a purely political speech, said Miloš Vučević, president of the SNS.
The day after the protest, the rector stated that “in a situation where citizens are waiting outside, he has an obligation to respond to them and address them in some way”.
“We still do not know when the elections will be or which ones will be held. What we do know is that I did not put myself forward or campaign as someone with political ambitions to become a political leader. If students and citizens ask me for some kind of engagement, I am ready to accept it,” Đokić said in an interview with Nova TV. He reiterated his support for students at a session of the parliamentary Committee on Education convened after the death of the Philosophy Faculty student.
Because of his siding with the students, government representatives have repeatedly called over the past year for his resignation as rector. “I would remove him in an instant if I had the authority,” said Minister of Education Dejan Vuk Stanković on one occasion.
Amid suggestions he might appear on a student-backed list in the next parliamentary elections, Vučić has repeatedly spoken very negatively about Đokić:
“I do not think he organised the blockades – he is a lackey, a pawn, a nobody. The question is why the competent prosecutor’s office has not reacted. Is this a violation of the Law on Higher Education? Why is the prosecutor’s office silent (about Rector Đokić)?”
Đokić did not comment on these or other attacks.
Member of FC Red Star’s leadership
From 2017 to 2021, Đokić was a member of the Assembly of Red Star Football Club, one of the two largest clubs in Serbia and the Balkans.
“I have nothing but praise for this management. I believe the president, Svetozar Mijailović, is someone who impresses with both strength and kindness and brings everything together in the club,” Đokić said in 2021 on the club’s television programme Zvezda je Život.
That was the same year he was first elected rector.
“(Zvezdan) Terzić, as director, in terms of everything related to the squad, finances, and infrastructure, is also doing an incredibly good job. I think the two of them (Mijailović and Terzić) form an exceptional partnership that keeps Red Star united,” he added.
In the same programme, he said that “children should be allowed to choose what they want to do in life – but they must support Red Star”.
Professor Turajlić criticised him at the time.
“We know he is a member of FC Red Star’s leadership, and if you consider the state of our football, that suggests closeness to its most active supporters, which does not reflect well on his ethics. We know he was involved in urban planning and had no objections to Belgrade Waterfront or the monuments. Either he is unqualified or he is acting on behalf of the authorities. That disqualifies him from any role, especially that of rector,” she said in 2021.
Support for Đokić was expressed on 1 April 2026 by the Academic Plenum and Education with Students, groups bringing together university professors and primary and secondary school teachers in Vojvodina.
“Universities must remain places of free thought, critical spirit, and truth,” they stated.
(BBC Serbia, 02.04.2026)
https://www.bbc.com/serbian/articles/c17vrxzjpkpo/lat