With placards in their hands, students and professors of the Faculty of Technical Sciences gathered today to express concern about the future of the faculty. One of the messages displayed on the placards read: “According to which system should we breathe?”, reflecting the academic community’s concern about the faculty’s connection to Serbia’s education system.
A student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in North Mitrovica, Luka Pecenkovic, stated that the implementation of the Law on Foreigners could push the university into an integration process, raising concerns about the future of the institution and the academic community.
“The implementation of the Law on Foreigners puts us into the process of integrating the university. Do you want to be foreigners in your own city, at your own university? Colleagues from Mitrovica of Kosovo, without the university there is no our city – the student city. Professors and others who are afraid, who are being blackmailed, we will certainly lose. Those who threaten you with losing your jobs will not be able to carry out that threat. Fight for our interest and yours, for the common interest,” he said.
Pecenkovic called on everyone to defend the students and the university, as well as to take care of themselves, stressing that their conscience should not allow them to remain silent.
“Protect your students and your university, and take care of yourselves; do not let your conscience allow you to remain silent. No one will fight for us if we do not fight ourselves. No one will help us if we do not help ourselves,” Pecenkovic said.
The Faculty of Technical Sciences in North Mitrovica operates within the framework of a university that functions within Serbia’s system.
The Rector of the University of Pristina, Arben Hajrullahu, told Radio Free Europe days ago that the request to vacate the “usurped” property was made based on Kosovo’s laws and procedures in force.
He also said that the University of Pristina is committed to putting into use “all its facilities and spaces, for which there is a great need, without further delays.”
