Petitsioon on adresseeritud: Student Association of University Novi Sad; Professors of University Novi Sad

This initiative contains a letter of support from students and employees of GMPU and AAU for their fellow colleages at University of Novi Sad, a twin city of Klagenfurt, demanding freedom of speech and obstention from violence by state authorities with view of the protests on 1 November 2025.

Dear colleagues and students at Novi Sad University,
As staff members, professors and students of the Gustav Mahler Private University for Music & University of Klagenfurt (AAU), Austria we are deeply concerned with the current situation at your university.

First, we want to express our solidarity with our colleagues at Novi Sad and the families and communities affected by the incident of November 1st, 2024. Second, we want to reiterate our commitment to the strong bonds between Klagenfurt and Novi Sad. As twin cities, we believe we are part of a larger community in which we have a responsibility to take a stand against any transgressions that threaten our common bonds as democratically minded citizens.

We are notably concerned about the academic environment in Novi Sad of the past ten months during which freedom of speech and the ability to teach autonomously have been supressed. We condemn any violence such as the temporal detentions of students, the use of “chemical bullets” and tear gas to disperse peaceful protests and erode the integrity of the university and rectorate. In view of the shameful events that took place during the last ten months, we demand for the planned demonstration on November 1st, 2025 the abstention of any force of violence from state authorities, the protection of the rights of students and staff members to freely express themselves, and respect for the value of a public and internationally renown academic institution.

We stand in solidarity with and strong support of our colleagues at Novi Sad who relentlessly strive for an open university with universal humanist values.