Serbian President Vučić brands student blockade ignorant, pledges students on ruling list

President Aleksandar Vučić, speaking at the World Urban Forum in Baku, said the “students in blockade” will have no candidates on their electoral list, arguing they lack a political agenda and display “enormous ignorance”. He warned that the blockade’s rhetoric could turn Serbia away from Russia and China and likened their outlook to dictators such as Pol Pot and Uganda’s Idi Amin. Vučić added that his own party’s list will contain many students, so voters can recognise that a vote for “students” is effectively a vote for his coalition.

He also defended the recently established Faculty of Serbian Studies in Niš, describing it as a quality institution with valuable courses, and suggested protests against it are driven by individuals protecting personal privileges. Vučić referred to a memorandum on Kosovo and Metohija circulated by blockade students, noting internal disputes over its content, and claimed the government had been late in explaining the situation to the public.