The Europride, scheduled for September 17 next in Belgrade, will not be held on schedule due to threats from far-right extremists and fear of clashes. “At the moment, Serbia is under pressure from numerous and serious problems,” the president announced Aleksandar Vucic on the day he re-appointed the outgoing premier Ana Brnabica declared lesbian and the first female and gay politician called to lead a government in Serbia in 2017.
Speaking live on TV, Vucic mentioned in particular the new tensions in Kosovo and the problems linked to the energy and food crisis. The demonstration, he noted, will take place in another more favorable period.
After the violent street clashes between police and homophobic ultranationalists in Belgrade during the 2010 Gay Pride, the homosexual people’s demonstration had been banned for reasons of security and public order for some years, and had returned to take place regularly in 2014, albeit with a massive police device in the center of Belgrade.
Europride canceled, the Italian center-left on the attack: “Unjustifiable”
“The news of the cancellation of the Europride given by Serbian President Vucic is very serious”. This was declared by Marilena Grassadonia, rights manager of the Italian Left Secretariat and candidate for the Chamber.
“It is unacceptable that in 2022 the government of a European country cancels a duly authorized demonstration such as the Europride in Belgrade, motivating the decision with” pressure from far-right parties and representatives of the Orthodox Church. If President Vucic gives in to the pressure he has received, he means that he thinks like them. It is a very serious act that paves the way for the spread of intolerance and homolesbobitransphobia “.
On the star + Europe line: “The announced ban on EuroPride is unjustifiable, considering that the Serbian Constitutional Court declared the ban on Pride in Serbia in 2011, 2012 and 2013 unconstitutional. As a candidate country for EU membership European, Serbia should show greater respect for European values and human rights, such as freedom of assembly and peaceful association. ” This was declared by Yuri Guaiana, leader of + Europe in the Chamber of Deputies in the colleges of Bergamo and Treviso.