STATEMENT ON THE PROTESTS OF STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS IN SERBIA BY THE DEPARTMENTS AND STUDENTS OF THE FACULTY OF HISTORY AND CULTURAL STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

Academic freedom is a cornerstone of democratic systems. In Serbia, it is currently severely threatened. Students at Serbian HEIs demonstrating against corruption and the erosion of the rule of law are facing increasing state repression, while the government is undermining the institutional autonomy of universities. As institutions of the University of Vienna, we express our support for the students and faculty members who are resisting the authoritarian Serbian government’s attempts to curtail academic freedom, and we stand in solidarity with their struggle for freedom of expression and institutional autonomy.

• Department of Contemporary History, represented by Kerstin von Lingen and Claudia Kraft
• Department of European Ethnology, represented by Alexa Färber and Brigitta Schmidt-Lauber
• Department of East European History, represented by Christoph Augustynowicz and Wolfgang Mueller
• Research Center for the History of Transformation (RECET) , represented by Philipp Ther and Claudia Kraft
• Student Organisation History, represented by Konrad Geist, Sebastian Messer, Selina Giedenbacher and Anna Innerhofer
• Department of Ancient History, Papyrology and Epigraphy, represented by Fritz Mitthof and Petra Amann
• Department of Art History, represented by Raphael Rosenberg and Assaf Pinkus
• Department of Economic and Social History, represented by Clemens Jobst and Juliane Schiel
• Department of Austrian Historical Research, represented by Peter Becker and Claudia Feller
• Department of History, represented by Thomas Hellmuth, Tara Andrews and Clemens Gantner

If you want to join the statement, please contact Dietlind Hüchtker.