The LGBTI+ event Pride Week opened on Monday in Belgrade, though it remains unclear whether Serbian authorities will proceed to ban the event as announced by President Aleksandar Vučić.
The opening passed without incident, and EuroPride coordinator Goran Miletćc announced that “everything planned” would take place during Pride Week – from film screenings, concerts and human rights conferences to the pride parade, scheduled for 17 September.
Yet, it is still not clear whether the authorities will ban the pride parade. President Vučić said that the ministry of interior will take the decision 96 hours before the parade.
Miletić said that the government should do its job. “The first thing is to adopt a law on same-sex partnerships,” he said in front of Serbia Palace, a building that houses several ministries.
Belgrade Pride coordinator Marko Mihailović said he felt “ashamed” for standing in front of an institution that has not done enough for LGBTI+ persons’ rights, stressing that representatives of the city and state were not attending the opening, and noting that Serbia was the only country in the region that did not have a law on same-sex unions.
Equality Commissioner Brankica Janković, US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill and the head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, attended the opening.
Only one day earlier, on Sunday evening, thousands of believers of the Serbian Orthodox church and right-wing activists marched through Serbia’s capital on Sunday, calling for authorities to ban EuroPride. (EURACTIV.rs | betabriefing.com)
