Serbia has canceled the holding in September of Europride, a pan-European event organized each year in a different city on the continent, President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Saturday, citing in particular a “difficult crisis” in Kosovo.
Europride was scheduled to be held in Belgrade from September 12-18, with a week of festivities and events and a Pride Market scheduled for its penultimate day. This major annual event has been organized since 1992, its first edition having taken place in London. Aleksandar Vucic announced the move minutes after tasking outgoing Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, an open lesbian, with forming a new government, nearly five months after elections in early April.
“Simply, at some point, we can’t manage everything”
“In agreement with the majority of the members of the government and with the Prime Minister (…) the pride march, or whatever the name of this thing, will be postponed or canceled”, declared Aleksanda Vucic in a press conference. “Simply, at some point, you can’t manage everything. Another time, in happier times”, added the president, explaining that Serbia was “under pressure”, facing “all kinds of problems”.
However, Europride organizers immediately claimed that the event would go ahead as planned, pointing out that several court rulings had established that other cancellations in the past had been unconstitutional. “The state cannot cancel Europride – it can only try to ban it, which would be a clear violation of the Constitution,” protest coordinator Marko Mihajlovic tweeted. “The march will take place as planned on September 17,” he said.
Although Serbia is one of the few countries to have an openly gay prime minister, members of the LGBTQ community there still live in fear. Holding hands remains a taboo for same-sex couples in the country where nearly 60% of members of the LGBTQ community have reported physical or emotional abuse, according to a 2020 survey by human rights organizations. Man, IDEAS and GLIC.