Domestic, foreign officials support Pride Parade

Pride Parade organizers and representatives of the government have stated that diplomats, ministers and MPs will join the gay parade in Belgrade on Sunday. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that police would do everything to keep security risks during the gay Pride Parade on October 10 at a minimum. Domestic, foreign officials support Pride Parade He has called upon citizens not to express their dissatisfaction by committing violence against the participants, regardless of their position on the manifestation itself. “I would not like police to clash with citizens, regardless of whether they support or condemn the holding of the event,” the interior minister stressed and added that it was “a test whether we in Serbia are ready to organize something that a majority of the country’s citizens do not like”. He also pointed out that “it is not up to police to determine whether they like some event”. Dacic added that a certain number of foreign diplomats would go to the Pride Parade and that the event therefore needed to be well-organized. Human and Minority Rights Minister Svetozar Ciplic today invited all citizens to join him at the Pride Parade on Sunday and stated that the manifestation would go smoothly and that it would be a great step for Serbia. “I invite all of you to join us,” he told a press conference in Belgrade. According to Ciplic, there are no official confirmations that other government representatives aside from him will take part in the parade in downtown Belgrade organized by LGBT associations. He added, however, that presence of two more ministers and several MPs was expected according to unofficial information. “I am sure that the Pride Parade as an event will be marked in Serbia’s modern history,” the human and minority rights minister announced. Lazar Pavlovic of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) said that Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Dimitrios Kypreos and Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Constantin Yerocostopoulos. “I would be honored to participate in the Pride Parade together with my colleagues from the EU,” Degert said. He also expects members of the Serbian government to join the parade on Sunday. The organizers have denied that they sent an invitation to SPC Patriarch Irinej to the Pride Parade and stated that the announcement posted on the internet was false. Queeria Center for Promotion of Culture and Non-Violence representative Boban Stojanovic assessed that the state made a small progress compared to last year when the parade was canceled. He told B92 that threats made by extreme rightist organizations ahead of the Pride Parade were directed more at the state than at the participants themselves. He has called upon all the opponents to express their dissatisfaction in some other way instead by threats and violence. Minister Svetozar Ciplic, Pride Parade organizers (Beta)

Domestic, foreign officials support Pride Parade

He has called upon citizens not to express their dissatisfaction by committing violence against the participants, regardless of their position on the manifestation itself.

“I would not like police to clash with citizens, regardless of whether they support or condemn the holding of the event,” the interior minister stressed and added that it was “a test whether we in Serbia are ready to organize something that a majority of the country’s citizens do not like”.

He also pointed out that “it is not up to police to determine whether they like some event”.

Dačić added that a certain number of foreign diplomats would go to the Pride Parade and that the event therefore needed to be well-organized.

Human and Minority Rights Minister Svetozar Čiplić today invited all citizens to join him at the Pride Parade on Sunday and stated that the manifestation would go smoothly and that it would be a great step for Serbia.

“I invite all of you to join us,” he told a press conference in Belgrade.

According to Čiplić, there are no official confirmations that other government representatives aside from him will take part in the parade in downtown Belgrade organized by LGBT associations.

He added, however, that presence of two more ministers and several MPs was expected according to unofficial information.

“I am sure that the Pride Parade as an event will be marked in Serbia’s modern history,” the human and minority rights minister announced.

Lazar Pavlović of the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) said that Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia Dimitrios Kypreos and Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Constantin Yerocostopoulos.

“I would be honored to participate in the Pride Parade together with my colleagues from the EU,” Degert said.

He also expects members of the Serbian government to join the parade on Sunday.

The organizers have denied that they sent an invitation to SPC Patriarch Irinej to the Pride Parade and stated that the announcement posted on the internet was false.

Queeria Center for Promotion of Culture and Non-Violence representative Boban Stojanović assessed that the state made a small progress compared to last year when the parade was canceled.

He told B92 that threats made by extreme rightist organizations ahead of the Pride Parade were directed more at the state than at the participants themselves.

He has called upon all the opponents to express their dissatisfaction in some other way instead by threats and violence.