Tensions accumulate in the small country of the Balkans since the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, announced on August 27 that he claimed the cancellation of the parade, which angered the representatives of the LGBT community .
Le Monde with AFP
After having canceled it, it is prohibited. The Serbian authorities officially prohibited, Tuesday, September 13, the march of Europride, a pan -European event of the LGBT community scheduled for Saturday September 17 in Belgrade. “Serbian police have banned the European’s march this year, putting an official notification to the organizers,” said the Belgrade Pride in a statement published on social networks , promising to fight against this cancellation. “The Belgrade Pride will use all legal means to reverse this decision,” says the movement.
The Serbian Interior Ministry confirmed a few moments later in a statement to have prohibited the parade, and added that a counter-demonstration targeting the pride is also prohibited. “Insanted conflicts in the streets of Belgrade would make the position of our country more difficult, would endanger the safety of the participants in the march as well as that of other citizens,” said Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin.
Tensions accumulate in the small country of the Balkans since the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, announced on August 27 that he claimed the cancellation of the parade, which angered the representatives of the LGBT community – other events organized within the framework of Europride, from September 12 to 18, must be maintained. The Serbian Head of State has highlighted a whole series of reasons to explain his position, evoking tensions around the old province of Kosovo or concerns about energy and food.
The organizers of the Europride, a demonstration which is held successively in various European capitals, had condemned these remarks, declaring that the government did not have the authority to cancel the march. Goran Miletic, one of the organizers, said the event would take place despite the ban. “We will certainly come together and parade as expected,” he said to the France-Presse agency.
“Risks of violence”
The Ministry of the Interior invoked security reasons to justify its decision: “The two demonstrations would have been held very close to each other and we estimated that there was a risk of attacks And conflicts, as well as a risk of violence. “The announcement of the prohibition of the march of pride occurs a few days after a gigantic demonstration which gathered thousands of people in Belgrade – biker gangs, Orthodox priests and Far -right nationalists – requiring such a measure.
Homosexual marriage is not legal in Serbia and if the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic, is openly lesbian, homophobia is very present in the country. Holding your hand in public remains taboo for same -sex couples while almost 60 % of the LGBT community says it has undergone physical or emotional abuse, according to a study published in 2020 by NGOs Ideas and GLIC.
In 2001 and 2010, the Belgrade pride marches were targeted by far -right groups and serious violence had broken out. Since 2014, the Belgrade Pride has been held regularly under strong police protection, but without notable incident.