Serbia shelves EuroPride in Belgrade next month, draws ire of LGBTQ+ activists

Serbian PresidentAleksandar Vucic on Saturday announced that the pan-European LGBTQ+ EuroPride, scheduled to take place in the capital city of Belgrade next month has been shelved.

Citing growing tension with Kosovo as one of the primary reasons for the cancellation, the Balkan President stated that only a miracle could put the event back on track.

"The pride parade, however you call that thing, scheduled for September, will be postponed or cancelled,"

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Vucic further added that his government needed to deal with other crisis:

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It is pertinent to note that members of the European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) had chosen Belgrade as the host city for the annual event, almost three years ago.

Thus, thesudden cancellation of the eventhas invited harsh criticism from LGBTQ+ activists.Kristine Garina, Presidentof EPOA urged the authorities to honour their promise of supporting the event.

“President Vucic cannot cancel someone else’s event.The right to hold Pride has been ruled by the European Court of Human Rights to be a fundamental human right," saidGarina.

Garina also added that the government was using stale tropes to cancel the event which celebrated diversity.

“Aside from the illegality of such a ban, it must be noted that those opposing EuroPride in Belgrade are using tired old tropes, inaccuracies and downright lies to discredit what is, in fact, a celebration of human rights and equality,” said Garina.

EuroPride is apan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride. It is hosted by a different European city every year. Belgrade was supposed to be the first European city in southeast Europe to organise the event. However, the axing has put a dent on the travelling plans of thousands who had planned to attend the event.

(With inputs from agencies)

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