"Pride Parade is promotion of freedom”

Human Rights Minister Svetozar Ciplic says that the Pride Parade is a promotion of freedom in Serbia and the authorities should get behind it. He explained that the government had best demonstrated its views on human rights and social integration by adopting the Anti-Discrimination Law. "Pride Parade is promotion of freedom” “That way, we’re expressing a Constitutional principle, a civilizational standard and a standard of living in civilized countries, a category Serbia falls into—that everyone is equal and free, regardless of race, gender or language,” Ciplic said. Regarding the threats of violence, the minister said that they were to be expected, but that he was convinced that they would remain nothing but threats. “In a transitional country like Serbia, with the added complication of an economic crisis, you can always expect the two poles that always exist in a country to be divided,” Ciplic said. “We simply want to pull the conservative section of the population closer to the civilized and tolerant section,” he said. “We want the citizens to be proud of the country they live in, and we want to turn Serbia into such a country,” Ciplic added. The minister said that he expected the Interior Ministry to do its job professionally to ensure that the event, which was a security risk, would pass off successfully. “I think the organization will be set up in such a way as to keep critical situations to a minimum and that the entire event will go off without incident from beginning to end. There will certainly be attempts, but I hope that’s all they’ll be,” Ciplic concluded.

"Pride Parade is promotion of freedom”

“That way, we’re expressing a Constitutional principle, a civilizational standard and a standard of living in civilized countries, a category Serbia falls into—that everyone is equal and free, regardless of race, gender or language,” Čiplić said.

Regarding the threats of violence, the minister said that they were to be expected, but that he was convinced that they would remain nothing but threats.

“In a transitional country like Serbia, with the added complication of an economic crisis, you can always expect the two poles that always exist in a country to be divided,” Čiplić said.

“We simply want to pull the conservative section of the population closer to the civilized and tolerant section,” he said.

“We want the citizens to be proud of the country they live in, and we want to turn Serbia into such a country,” Čiplić added.

The minister said that he expected the Interior Ministry to do its job professionally to ensure that the event, which was a security risk, would pass off successfully.

“I think the organization will be set up in such a way as to keep critical situations to a minimum and that the entire event will go off without incident from beginning to end. There will certainly be attempts, but I hope that’s all they’ll be,” Čiplić concluded.