This paper neither attacks nor defends the Bologna Declaration; rather, it attempts a critical assessment of its implementation in Serbia. Review of the available data shows that the higher education system in Serbia is inefficient and in profound need of reform. Analysis of some of the reform processes shows that the Bologna Declaration as a general concept and a regulatory principle always has various local (national) interpretations and that some reform measures are far from the Declaration's fundamental principles and intentions. On the other hand, the analysis of higher education reform in Serbia also shows that this reform is not independent of the reform of a broader social context. Decontextualization in the implementation of the Bologna Declaration has as its consequence formalism, irrationality, and the loss of authenticity and the ability to respond effectively to specific needs and goals. (Contains 2 tables and 4 notes.)