The decision of the EAA Executive Board to organise the 2025 Annual Meeting in Belgrade was a great honour for our local archaeological community. This decision was publicly announced at the Annual Meeting in Belfast in 2023. But in fact, preparations for such an event, including the bidding process, began several years prior. During this long period, we have been working hard to welcome you in our city and to contribute to the expansion of the rich and vibrant professional network that exists in Serbia. We were paying attention to every detail â from the Annual Party venue to the design of Delegatesâ bags. The decision to move the entire event to the virtual platform was therefore a very difficult one, made under extraordinary circumstances.
As you may know, in November 2024, the recently renovated Railway Station canopy in the city of Novi Sad collapsed without warning. This resulted in the deaths of sixteen people. Triggered by this tragic event, peaceful anti-corruption protests erupted, led by the students of all the Serbian universities. Their just demands to the authorities â to establish the responsibility for this disastrous event, were promptly supported by their teachers and University bodies. This movement quickly gained support among the general public as well. However, the demands were largely ignored or diminished by the authorities. Sporadic physical attacks ensued on peaceful protesters, both students and citizens, while they stood daily in silence for 16 minutes, paying their respects to those who had lost their lives in the collapse. Over the following months, the protest gained traction among the wider population. This resulted in several large-scale gatherings organised in various major Serbian cities. The culmination of organised protests came on March 15th, with the largest ever citizensâ protest held in Belgrade, attended by over 300,000 people. Preparations for the protest were marked by the most drastic demonstration of the authoritiesâ intention to induce violence in the streets. The dire escalation was avoided thanks to the prudent and timely reaction of the students and citizens.
Subsequently, quite explicit threats were made by the highest state officials, stating that the protests would be forcefully stopped. At the same time, institutional pressure upon the countryâs universities to stop their support for the protests increased and has ramped up over the past several months. This pressure has included a recent police interrogation of the Rector of Belgrade University. Pressure has also been placed upon the deans of individual faculties. Salaries of university teachers have been cut through an unlawful decree made by the Serbian Ministry of Education. As these escalating tensions and actions illustrate, the autonomy of universities across the country, and the very existence of the academic community in Serbia are currently under threat. In the midst of these events, major historical buildings in downtown Belgrade were sold to foreign investors, breaking several culture heritage laws. Through all of this, the archaeological community in Serbia held together â with public support for student demands provided by various university faculties, research institutes, heritage protection institutes, and the Serbian Archaeological Society. We all feel the weight of these current events.
Under these tense circumstances, and especially in light of the unpredictability of further developments, we were compelled to change the onsite format of the Annual Meeting. Thus, we have opted to organise the event via the online platform. This decision was, and still is, impossibly heavy. Years of dedicated work have been put into bridging the gaps and building connections in the European community towards more âintertwined pastsâ for this Annual Meeting. Now more than ever, and despite all the previous work, we face an even more important task. We are still out on the streets, in the meetings, marching, and demanding justice from a system that appears broken. The fight that we in Serbia currently find ourselves in is a major one for our society and for our profession.
We are deeply grateful for the understanding and the support of the EAA Executive Board and the Secretariat, and we sincerely hope that there will be another opportunity to greet you all in Belgrade. Until then, we look forward to seeing you online in September.
Signed by the Belgrade AM Organising Committee
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