Pride Parade, Trans Pride events take place in Belgrade

Pride Parade, Trans Pride events take place in Belgrade

Strong police forces guarded the participations for the duration of the event. During the walk they stopped shortly at Terazije Square, near the Monument to Patriots, where they whistled in protest against fascism and capitalism, mentioning wars in Syria and Ukraine, as well as problems in Greece, and reminding of the large number of refugees in Serbia.

Minister without portfolio in charge of EU integrations Jadranka Joksimovic took part, as well as Minister of Culture and Information Ivan Tasovac, Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali and Commissioner for Equality Branica Jankovic. A number of ambassadors was also present, including the head of the EU delegation in Serbia Michael Davenport, U.S. Ambassador Michael Kirby, as well as member of European parliament Knut Fleckenstein.

Representatives of parties were also present, including LDP leader Cedomir Jovanovic and his wife, official of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Nenad Konstatinović and president of the "It's Enough (Dosta je)" Sasa Radulovic. Member of the Organizing Committee Boban Stojanovic said that he was very satisfied with this year's Pride, stating that this was the first real parade.

"This is the first real parade, we walked along the main streets, flags were flying everywhere, people were happy, music was heard from the truck, it was cheerful and colorful and that's actually Pride," Stojanovic told Tanjug. He stated that he was particularly happy that other messages were sent during the event as well - about solidarity with the refugees "that are a few meters from the route of Pride, whose problems we cannot ignore."

As Stojanovic said, the problem faced by refugees can befall any of us, and the idea of ​​the LGBT movement is primarily - solidarity. He pointed out that during parade "everything went in the best possible way, with no major incidents in the city."

Another event, Trans Pride was held separately on Sunday. Ahead of the gathering, Predrag Azdejkovic, member of the Organizing Committee, said that the goal of separate organization of the Trans Pride is to make the problems of the transgender community more visible.