Thousands march in belgrade against planned gay pride parade
LGBTQ activists vow to pride in Belgrade despite EuroPride ban
Tensions mounted in Belgrade as LGBTQ activists promised to stage a EuroPride march on Saturday in the Serbian capital despite a government ban.
The event had been intended as the cornerstone event of the EuroPride gathering. But the interior ministry banned the march earlier this week citing security concerns after right-wing groups threatened to hold protests.
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end of listThe Balkan country, a candidate for European Union membership, had been under intense international pressure to allow the march. More than 20 embassies – including from the Together States, France and Britain – issued a connected statement urging authorities to lift the ban.
Gay marriage is not legally recognised in Serbia, where homophobia remains deep-seated despite some progress over the years in reducing discr
Europride in Belgrade, 10,000 in march
Belgrade 17 September 2022 © Belgrade Pride/Vesna Lalić
Despite government bans aimed at limiting the LGBT demonstration in Belgrade, over ten thousand people marched through the streets of the capital on Saturday 17 September. Can we therefore talk of a success? Yes and no, as explained by Goran Miletic, director of the Europe and MENA Office at Civil Rights Defenders and one of the Europride organisers
23/09/2022 - Giovanni Vale
Last Saturday, thousands of people marched in downtown Belgrade for Europride 2022 , the flagship event of the LGBT+ community in Europe. Initially, the march was prohibited by the Serbian government, which feared clashes with hooligans, nationalists, and ultra-Orthodox extremists. "In truth, President Vucic fears above all that the far-right parties – satellite parties of his SNS, not a real opposition – will end up gnawing at his electoral ground , as happened in the last elections, taking benefit of events such as gay pride", explains analyst Srdan Cvijic. Eventually, the parade was authorised, but in the form of a "private walk". For some participa
Serbian police, right-wing conflict in EuroPride protest
Police clashed with right-wing protesters as thousands of people participated in the EuroPride march in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, on Saturday despite threats from anti-gay groups.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said 10 police officers were slightly injured, five police cars damaged and 64 protesters arrested.
"I am very pleased that we managed to avoid more serious incidents," said Brnabic, who earlier gave the go-ahead for the pan-European LGBTQ event to take place despite an earlier bar . Among the marchers was her companion, Milica Djurdjic.
Also show were diplomats from the more than 20 embassies who earlier had issued a joint remark urging the authorities to lift the ban.
US Ambassador Christopher R. Hill wrote on Twitter that he we haughty to take part in the pride "in support of diversity, inclusion, and respect for the rights of all citizens."
The European Parliament's special rapporteur for Serbia, Vladimir Bilcik, also joined the march.
Police clash with hooligans
But it almost didn't happen, with the Interior Ministry banning the parade earlier in the week, citing security concerns after right-wing groups threa
Europride marchers set to defy ban on Belgrade parade
Serbian authorities tried to stop the event scheduled for Saturday, citing 'risks of violence' from nationalists and traditionalist Orthodox circles.
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LETTER FROM CENTRAL EUROPE
Whatever happens, they want to be in the streets of Belgrade on Saturday, September 17. "We don't realize where yet, but we will ask people to gather anyway to protest!" said Kristine Garina, speaking from the Serbian capital. Ms. Garina is the Latvian head of the European Association of Organizers of Pride Marches – each year since 1992, the group has organized the Europride, a massive pan-European LGBT march, in a different city on the Old Continent.
For the first time, this year's march was set to take place in the Balkans, an important outreach region for the European LGBT movement as homophobia is so widespread there – at least that was the plan until Serbian authorities decided on Tuesday, September 13, to ban the event at the last minute, citing "risks of violence" from Serbian nationalist groups and traditionalist Orthodox circles, who had planned to systematize an "anti-globalization march" against the "gay
Thousands of Serbia’s Orthodox Christians rally against EuroPride
Thousands of Orthodox Christians have marched in Belgrade to warn against holding EuroPride despite the Serbian authorities’ choice to cancel next month’s pan-European gathering of the LGBTQ community.
Carrying icons, crosses and religious flags, Sunday’s protesters marched through the capital centre while praying and chanting before gathering outside the cathedral of Saint Sava.
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end of listPresident Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday announced that he had decided, in consultation with the government, that the identity festival parade would be “postponed or cancelled”.
Vucic said it was not possible to “handle everything” at a time when Serbia was “pressured with all kinds of problems”, underlining recent tensions with former province Kosovo and concerns over energy and food.
But EuroPride organisers promised to press on with the parade.
“Pride will go ahead as planned on Septemb