New Attempt to Organise Pride in Belgrade

On Sunday 10 October a new attempt will be made to carry out a Pride parade in Belgrade. Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders, will be in the Serbian capital to participate in the parade and in a panel debate that we organise together with our partners on Saturday.

Last year the parade was stopped only 24 hours before it was supposed to take place, following a message from the police saying that they can not guarantee the safety of the participants. That resulted in massive protests from the civil society and in debates on whether the police is giving in to hooligans and extremist groups.

This time the authorities have, again, promised that the Pride parade will take place and that the participants will be protected.

In a letter to Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic, we have expressed our appreciation in regard to the positive statements from the Ministry of Interior, while at the same time urging the authorities to allocate enough resources to be able to guarantee the safety of the participants.

Read more about Pride Belgrade here.