{"id":38956,"date":"2024-08-07T11:58:30","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T09:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/?p=38956"},"modified":"2024-08-07T12:00:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T10:00:15","slug":"ministers-education-background-where-did-milica-djurdjevic-stamenkovski-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/ministers-education-background-where-did-milica-djurdjevic-stamenkovski-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister&#8217;s Education Background: Where Did Milica \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski Graduate?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time since she entered politics, <strong>Milica \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski<\/strong> did not appear as an opposition MP in <em>Serbia\u2019s<\/em> <em>National Assembly<\/em> at the beginning of May. In the parliamentary elections held in December 2023, her party <em>Oathkeepers<\/em> <em>(Zavetnici)<\/em> did not pass the election threshold, despite being in coalition with the <em>Dveri<\/em> movement. Nevertheless, \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski managed to become an MP, this time as a candidate for Minister of Family Care and Demography.<\/p><p>Her biography, which was sent to MPs along with those of other proposed ministers, states that after graduating from the <em>First Belgrade Gymnasium<\/em>, she enrolled at the <em>Faculty of Political Sciences<\/em>, where she obtained a degree in political science. For years, this information has also been listed on her personal website, and was also included on the <em>Ministry&#8217;s<\/em> website after she was appointed minister.<\/p><p>However, despite enrolling at the <em>Faculty of Political Sciences<\/em> in Belgrade after high school, \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski never completed her studies, the <em>Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia<\/em> (CINS) can reveal.<\/p><p>She lost her student status at the <em>Faculty<\/em> back in 2020.<\/p><div class=\"fullwreg\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\"\n  src=\"https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/25031713-ivana-pdf\/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1\"\n  title=\"Odgovor Fakulteta politi\u010dkih nauka u Beogradu (Hosted by DocumentCloud)\"\n  width=\"800\"\n  height=\"1131\"\n  style=\"border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px); max-width: 800px;\"\n  sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"\n><\/iframe>\n<\/div><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Response from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade<\/em><\/p><p>Despite this, her name continued to appear on election lists with the title of &#8220;political scientist&#8221; in the following years.<\/p><p>Former Minister of Education <strong>Sr\u0111an Verbi\u0107<\/strong> told CINS that no one in the <em>Government<\/em> checks biographies or requires proof of educational background when one becomes minister.<\/p><p>&#8220;I did provide it, as I thought it was necessary, but no one asked me for it.&#8221;<\/p><p>However, <strong>Zoran Stojiljkovi\u0107<\/strong>, a sociologist and retired <em>Faculty of Political Sciences<\/em> professor, believes that members of the executive branch should be obliged to provide proof of their educational qualifications upon taking office.<\/p><p>&#8220;In normal societies, they [ministers] must be accountable to the public, and therefore, citizens should be provided with information about their educational background, among other things.&#8221;<\/p><h2><strong>The Russian Institute<\/strong><\/h2><p>In her statement to CINS, Minister \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski says that she obtained her degree this year \u2013 from the Russian <em>Institute of Diaspora and Integration<\/em>. She did not provide evidence of this because, as she says, she submitted documentation for enrollment in a master\u2019s program at the <em>Russian State Social University<\/em>.<\/p><p>She declined to answer CINS\u2019s other questions, including why she chose this <em>Institute<\/em>, how she enrolled there, and which study program she completed, instead telling us to put these questions to the <em>Institute<\/em> itself.<\/p><p>According to the information on their website, the <em>Institute of Diaspora and Integration<\/em> was established in 1996 and received a license in 2019 from the <em>Moscow Department of Education<\/em> for providing additional education for children and adults, as well as further professional education.<\/p><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-38937\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-576x273.png\" alt=\"Licenca \" width=\"622\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-576x273.png 576w, https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-966x459.png 966w, https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-768x365.png 768w, https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-1536x729.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-2048x972.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Untitled-2610-x-1080-px-150x71.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px\" \/><\/p><p><em><span style=\"text-align: center;\">License for Providing Education from the Moscow Department of Education; Source: i-sng.ru<\/span><\/em><\/p><p>According to the website, the <em>Institute<\/em> offers courses in political science, lasting from 36 to 72 hours.<\/p><p>In its response to CINS, the <em>Institute of Diaspora and Integration<\/em> says that \u201cMilica \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski underwent training at the <em>Institute<\/em> of CIS States (Institute of Diaspora and Integration) from 2020 to 2024, specializing in political science. The program lasted 260 academic hours and was carried out in Russian, taking into account the specifics for foreign students.\u201d<\/p><p>However, the <em>Institute<\/em> did not answer questions about whether the diploma obtained in this way is equivalent to a bachelor&#8217;s degree, or if they recognized the exams she had passed at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade.<\/p><div class=\"fullwreg\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\"\n  src=\"https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/25032493-050824-155156\/?embed=1&amp;responsive=1&amp;title=1\"\n  title=\"Odgovor Instituta za dijasporu i integracije (Hosted by DocumentCloud)\"\n  width=\"800\"\n  height=\"1182\"\n  style=\"border: 1px solid #aaa; width: 100%; height: 800px; height: calc(100vh - 100px); max-width: 800px;\"\n  sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"\n><\/iframe>\n<\/div><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Response from the Institute of Diaspora and Integration<\/em><\/p><p><em>Serbia\u2019s Qualifications Agency did not respond to CINS\u2019s question about whether a degree obtained from this Institute would be recognized in Serbia. <\/em><\/p><p><em>The initiative to establish this Institute came from <strong>Konstantin Fyodorovich Zatulin<\/strong>, a politician and member of Vladimir Putin&#8217;s United Russia. He holds the position of Special Representative for Migration and Citizenship Issues in the State Duma and is also involved in matters related to the former Soviet Union states and Eurasian integration.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Founders of the Institute include, among others, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Sputnik joint stock company, institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Lomonosov Moscow State University. <\/em><\/p><p><em>Its goal is, among other things, to monitor and study the conditions of the former Soviet Union states, as well as to gather information about the status of Russians abroad and work on strengthening ties with the Russian diaspora.<\/em><\/p><p><em>The media in Serbia have written about Zatulin on several occasions during his visits to Belgrade. He attended <strong>Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107\u2019s<\/strong> funeral and the fifth-anniversary commemoration of his death, as well as an event organized by the Serbian Radical Party while Vojislav \u0160e\u0161elj was still in The Hague. On that occasion, he stated that the Tribunal must be abolished because it represents a &#8220;disgrace to international law.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><p>In 2021, at the Moskva Hotel, the <em>Institute<\/em> opened its representative office in Belgrade called <em>Russian Balkan Center<\/em>. The opening was attended by Konstantin Zatulin, the then-President of Serbia\u2019s <em>National Assembly<\/em> <strong>Ivica Da\u010di\u0107<\/strong>, and the former ambassador of Serbia to Moscow <strong>Slavenko Terzi\u0107<\/strong>, who is also the director of this Center.<\/p><p>As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtv.rs\/sr_lat\/politika\/otvoren-ruski-balkanski-centar-u-beogradu_1234607.html\"><em>Radio Television of Vojvodina<\/em><\/a>, Zatulin pointed out on that occasion that Russia and Serbia do not share a common border, that the peoples of the two countries have never lived in one state, but that they have for centuries been bound by the same faith, similar worldviews, and &#8220;mutual, sometimes mystical love.&#8221;<\/p><p>In a statement to CINS, Slavenko Terzi\u0107 says he knows nothing about the opportunities for additional education at the <em>Institute<\/em>, and that the <em>Russian Balkan Center<\/em> and the <em>Institute<\/em> cooperate on a scientific and cultural level.<\/p><p>\u00a0\u201cWe organize round tables or joint meetings, that&#8217;s mainly it.\u201d<\/p><p>He also adds that their cooperation is negligible at the moment because the <em>Center<\/em> has no funds, as, he assumes, is the case with the <em>Institute<\/em> itself.<\/p><p>The <em>Institute&#8217;s<\/em> website regularly publishes news, including those about new laws on deporting migrants, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and relations with other countries. The <em>Institute<\/em> and the <em>Russian Balkan Center<\/em> also issued <a href=\"https:\/\/zatulin.ru\/falstart-cvetnoj-revolyucii-no-porox-nado-derzhat-suxim\/\">a joint statement<\/a> in 2023 condemning the &#8220;Serbia Against Violence&#8221; protests, assessing that it was a campaign aimed at overthrowing <strong>Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong> and destabilizing Serbia.<div class=\"rmbox\"><h2 class=\"rmboxtitle\">Missing Credits<\/h2><div class=\"rmboxteaser\"><p style='text-align: justify; background: white;'><span style='font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Montserrat; color: black; mso-no-proof: yes;'><strong>Milica \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski<\/strong> enrolled in the undergraduate political science studies at the <em>Faculty of Political Sciences<\/em> in Belgrade in 2009. That year marked the start of implementing the Bologna system, under which each subject carries a certain number of credits. To graduate, a student must pass exams worth at least 240 credits.<\/span><\/p><\/div><div id=\"rmtease9072498\" class=\"rmboxtext hidden\"><p style='text-align: justify; background: white;'><span style='font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Montserrat; color: black; mso-no-proof: yes;'>When she lost her student status in December 2020, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;'>\u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski<\/b> had 207 credits.<\/span><\/p><\/div><div id=\"rmteaseb9072498\" class=\"rmboxteaserall\"><span>Show more<\/span><\/div>\n\n<script>\njQuery(document).ready(function(){\n    jQuery(\"#rmteaseb9072498\").click(function(){\n        if(jQuery(\"#rmtease9072498\").is(\":hidden\")){\n            jQuery(\"#rmtease9072498\").slideDown(400);\n            jQuery(\"#rmteaseb9072498 span\").text(\"Show less\");\n        } else {\n            jQuery(\"#rmtease9072498\").slideUp(400);\n            jQuery(\"#rmteaseb9072498 span\").text(\"Show more\");\n        }\n    });\n});\n<\/script>\n\n            <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Family Care and Demography Minister Milica \u0110ur\u0111evi\u0107 Stamenkovski emphasizes in her biography that she obtained a degree in political science from the Faculty of Political Sciences. However, CINS can reveal that she never graduated from there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1378,"featured_media":38916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1602,1604,1492,1572],"tags":[2256],"class_list":["post-38956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-hp-slider","category-investigative-stories","category-public-officials","tag-milica-djurdjevic-stamenkovski-en","ciTrackContent"],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Beta_Amir-Hamzagic-01-scaled.jpg","author_additional":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1378"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38956"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38962,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38956\/revisions\/38962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cins.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}