EuroPride 2022 Continues Despite the Serbian Government’s Ban

EuroPride 2022 festivities have already begun in Belgrade, including an opening ceremony that saw the Pride flag raised over the Palace of Serbia. That’s right – scheduled events are still on despite the Serbian government’s statement last month to cancel EuroPride 2022 and yesterday’s formal ban on Saturday’s Pride march.

The first EuroPride hosted in southeastern Europe runs from Monday, September 12 through Sunday, September 18. Thousands of attendees are expected to converge on the city this week to mark its 30th anniversary, but this year’s event has been met with much resistance from religious organizations and nationalist groups. 

Citing a variety of reasons including right-wing threats, Serbian authorities issued a formal ban on the festival’s Pride march, scheduled on Saturday. The Serbian Orthodox Church has condemned the event for “desecrating the holy city of Belgrade,” according to Time Magazine. 

But plans are already in motion to appeal the ban. Kristine Garina, president of the European Pride Organizers Association, will lead an appeal of the ban, which in similar situations has been ruled unconstitutional. Garina told Time, “Belgrade Pride will still ask people to gather to protest the ban. It won’t be the same march as planned, but people will be out on the streets.” 

Meanwhile, members of the LGBTQ+ community believe the protests demonstrate why hosting EuroPride in Belgrade is necessary. 

“The idea when we first presented our bid in 2019 was exactly that: to showcase EuroPride in a country that really needs it. We wanted to draw attention to the systematic discrimination and the lack of political will to resolve the issues that the community is facing,” Marko Mihailovic told The Guardian. The 29-year-old led the city’s winning bid for Belgrade Pride. 

Click here for more information about this week’s EuroPride events in Belgrade.