Belgrade Pride: Over 60 Foreign Public Figures Confirm Attendance to Event

Pride parade (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Goran Miletic – one the organizers of EuroPride 2022, set to take place in the Serbian capital on Sept. 17 – has announced that over 60 politicians and NGO representatives have confirmed their attendance to the event. Miletic also expressed his belief that the authorities will ensure the safety of everyone involved.

In a statement for the Sept. 6 edition of the Danas daily, Miletic said that the police could not possibly “turn a blind eye” and “refuse to secure” the event, and warned that such inaction would cause a scandal.

According to him, the previous rulings of Serbia’s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights have made it impossible to legally stop the Pride parade from taking place.

“We will take to the streets because banning [the event] is illegal. The damage has already been done because there is talk abroad of cancelation and postponing – the wording is irrelevant – in the context of the authorities,” Miletic said, referencing the government’s recent recommendation for the event to be canceled due to the country’s precarious security situation.

Miletic further stated that a public display – coupled with the full cooperation of the authorities in securing the event – is the only way to “undo at least some of the damage” caused by the talk of cancelation.