SERBIA'S education ministry has condemned the "blind, destructive" student protests against the government's annulment of local elections.
After almost two weeks of demonstrations, the ministry issued a statement after a meeting between minister Dragoslav Mladenovic and the rector and deans of the University of Belgrade, who "unanimously" joined in the condemnation.
Students have demanded the resignation of rector Dragutin Velickpvic saying that his failure to acknowledge their demands and his manner of communicating through "orders and interdictions" was unacceptable. They also demanded the resignation of student dean Vojin Djurdjevic.
The ministry argued that legally universities are non-political and not a place for "partisan competitions or expressions of political belief". But the law, introduced after the one-party system fell, was designed to prevent the imposition of a single political ideology on universities, not to stop all political debate.
The ministry says students have been manipulated and that universities should take steps. At least 30 members of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences have declared their support for the protests as have many staff at Belgrade University.
Darinka Matic-Marovic, rector of the University of Arts, sent a letter of support which neatly circumvented the "non-political" clause: "We are defending your right to free speech, and doing everything to protect you just as you should defend my right and obligation as rector - as specified in the law on the university, not to take political sides."