Original article (in Croatian) was published on 31/12/2024; Author: Ivan Nekić
For years, KSET students have been coming to KST’s Masked Ball in Belgrade held in December. However, this year, Serbian tabloids have labelled them as spies.
The collapse of the canopy at the reconstructed main railway station in Novi Sad on November 1, which caused the deaths of 14 people, along with the sluggish response of the authorities led by the Serbian Progressive Party and President Aleksandar Vučić, has led to massive protests and significant student blockades. More than 60 faculties at four state universities in Serbia have been non-operational for a month, and numerous high schools have joined the blockades in support.
Students participating in the blockade have four demands for the authorities to end the protests: publishing complete documentation regarding the reconstruction of the railway station, the dismissal of charges against arrested and detained students and youth protesting the canopy collapse, the filing of criminal charges against attackers of students and professors and their prosecution, and a 20 percent increase in budget allocations for material expenses of state higher education institutions in Serbia.
Although Serbian President Vučić and other officials attempt to convince citizens that the demands have already been met and that protests and blockades are unnecessary, the widespread unrest in Serbia shows no signs of subsiding.
Pro-government tabloids, as well as Vučić himself, are seeking to blame external factors for the current situation in Serbia. They have “accused” Croatian students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, who are members of the Club of Electrical Engineering Students (KSET), of interfering in the protests. These students recently visited Belgrade at the invitation of their Belgrade colleagues from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.
Vučić stated on Pink Television that Croatian members of a non-governmental organization allegedly came to Belgrade to support the student protests but are actually aiding Croatian intelligence services and infiltrating universities. He lamented that “good Serbian students”, even when showing their student ID cards, were not allowed to enter the universities because they were not on the “other side”.
“But Croatian members of the non-governmental organization, who lied to our country, the host country, claiming they were visiting the House of Flowers and sightseeing, were allowed to enter the universities. Nothing terrible, except that this points to the involvement of the Croatian intelligence agency”, Vučić said.
Informer and Večernje Novosti: Croatian-Ukrainian attack on Serbia
On December 29, the Serbian tabloid Informer published an article (archived here) titled: “Proof! Masked SOA Operatives in Front of the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade: Croatian-Ukrainian Attack on Serbia Underway! (PHOTO)”. A reader asked us to verify the claims stated in this article.
A group of Croatian intelligence officers disguised as Croatian students or tourists visited the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade. This is proved by the photographs we obtained. The same group, which tried to deceive our security services by pretending to be tourists visiting Serbia, also visited the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (ETF) at night. The fact that they visited the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade the morning after visiting ETF indicates they were not tourists as they claimed.
According to Informer’s article, shocking information about the group from Croatia currently in Belgrade was revealed by Informer’s editor-in-chief Dragan J. Vučićevic.
The Informer editor-in-chief further stated:
“Shocking information. We have uncovered incredible details about a coordinated Ukrainian-Croatian attack on Serbia. We have proof. A group of fake students – who might technically be students but are actually Croatian intelligence agents disguised as students and tourists – came to Belgrade with Ukrainian extremists. They are working to overthrow Vučić and destabilize the state alongside students blocking certain universities. One of these students is Oleksej Comakov from Zagreb, currently in Belgrade with an unidentified number of others – so far, we’ve identified eight”.
The smear campaign targeting Croatian students visiting their Serbian peers was also supported by Večernje Novosti, which published an article (archived here) titled: “HERE ARE THE CROATIAN STUDENT-SPIES: They Roam Around Serbia, Organize Protests, and Want to Overthrow the State (PHOTO/VIDEO)”. Večernje Novosti went further, publishing the names and photos of the students, citing Informer’s claims:
“Croatian agents are on a special mission in our country, roaming Belgrade with one goal: to overthrow Serbia and President Aleksandar Vučić”, states the introduction.
Students from KSET visited Belgrade at the invitation of Serbian peers
Informer’s claims that this was a “group of Croatian intelligence agents disguised as students” working to “overthrow Vučić and destabilize the state” are baseless.
Croatian students who returned to Zagreb on December 30 responded to Faktograf’s inquiry about the situation in Belgrade and why they visited the Croatian Embassy. They explained in a statement.
The Electrical Engineering Students Club (KSET) from Zagreb has a long-standing tradition of collaboration with the Engineering Students Club (KST) from Belgrade. For years, students from both clubs have attended major festivals organized at their respective faculties. KST typically visits Zagreb in November for the FER Freshmen Party, while KSET visits Belgrade in December for KST’s Masked Ball.
This tradition was supposed to continue this year. However, due to widespread student protests and faculty closures in Serbia, the KST Masked Ball was cancelled. Despite this, KSET students decided to visit Belgrade as tourists due to prior travel arrangements.
“Our members travelled to Belgrade as tourists, as noted during our proper entry into Serbia on December 27 at 6 a.m. Members of KSET, divided into smaller groups, explored the city, unaware that they were being followed by Informer journalists, who published numerous photos and videos of our members on December 29. Additionally, from the 48 participants on the trip, they published the names, ages, and hometowns of eight members, portraying them as agents of Croatia’s Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA)”.
KSET emphasized that they had not shared any personal information with Serbian authorities beyond what was required at the border. They were shocked to discover how journalists obtained their information and tracked their movements. They also expressed concern about derogatory labels assigned to them.
Students: We were stunned by Informer’s reporting
The students, alarmed by Informer’s claims, contacted Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) and the Croatian Embassy in Serbia. They were photographed outside the consulate while voting in the Croatian presidential election, an act which Informer misrepresented as consultations. However, there was no mention of that.
“We are disheartened by the irresponsible behavior of journalists who attempt to intimidate our members and falsely accuse them of participating in Serbian student protests or plotting to overthrow the Serbian government. It is difficult to describe the unease our members felt upon learning they were being targeted in the media during a simple tourist visit”, KSET stated.
On their return to Croatia, the students found a package at the border containing bottles of rakija (fruit brandy) labelled in Cyrillic: Dear ‘students,’ we hope you enjoyed your stay. Come back soon. P.S. Greetings to your colleagues at SOA”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Plenković reacted to the whole situation
Tomislav Lendić, a spokesperson for MVEP, dismissed Informer’s claims for Večernji list, calling them “unserious and irresponsible tabloid writing”.
The unpleasant situation experienced by the students, as well as the allegations that they were Croatian spies from the SOA who arrived in Belgrade, was commented on by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković after the HDZ Presidency session on Monday:
“We are in the middle of a presidential campaign and Christmas holidays. Claims that Croatian intelligence orchestrated a secret operation in Serbia are laughable. The students attended a cooperation event between two faculties. It’s ridiculous”.
Vučić: “In my time, we would have chased students from Zagreb away”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, during a visit to the construction site of a children’s hospital in Belgrade this morning, once again commented on the Croatian students who had visited the Serbian capital.
“The tourist attraction House of Flowers is a marvel; it’s unbelievable how much it attracts people from Croatia. Even the Faculty of Electrical Engineering is now a tourist destination. We will include it in all brochures, presenting it as a significant tourist destination”, Vučić remarked today, as reported by N1 Serbia.
“They find it amusing; I find it even funnier. I don’t understand this modern era. Back when I was a student, if some students from Zagreb had come to us, we would have chased them away. Now, they are welcomed, everything is nice and normal, they’re assisted and even trained. We were good hosts; we didn’t arrest them as they did to us because of songs and Facebook posts. They were not harmed”, he added.
The very fact that the Croatian students crossed the Serbian and Croatian border without any issues proves that Serbian authorities found no evidence that they had engaged in any illegal activities in Belgrade, let alone spied for the intelligence service of a foreign country. It is worth recalling that Serbia announced in August that it had arrested a Croatian spy. However, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded with a statement saying they had no knowledge of such an arrest occurring, and there has been no further development or public information on the matter.
In conclusion, there is no evidence to support the claim that Croatian students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, who are also members of KSET, were intelligence agents from SOA sent to Belgrade to overthrow Vučić and dismantle the state alongside Serbian students involved in the blockade. These allegations have been refuted by the Croatian students themselves, as well as by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who described such insinuations as absurd. Furthermore, KSET students have traditionally visited the KST Masked Ball in Belgrade every December in previous years. Therefore, the articles published on the web portals Informer and Večernje Novosti are considered to be inaccurate.
