Under the slogan "Pride is People," the Pride March, the central event of this year's Pride Week, was held in Belgrade on Saturday. The gathering at Manjez Park began at 4 pm, with the march starting around 5:30 pm and concluding before 7 pm. A concert and party at Manjez Park followed, and lasted until midnight. Pročitaj više

N1 reporters noted a significant police presence, especially near the Government and Parliament buildings along the march route, with dozens of officers equipped for crowd control. There was also a heavy police presence in Nusiceva Street, along with numerous police vehicles and gendarmerie.

Two days before the march, a member of the organizing committee was attacked on Kralja Milana Street while carrying an LGBT flag. The incident reportedly occurred in front of police officers.

The Pride march began at Manjez Park, proceeding through Nemanjina Street to the Serbian Government building, then through Kneza Milosa and Kralja Milana Streets to the Serbian Parliament, and back to Manjez Park. This year’s Pride Week in Belgrade carried the slogan „Pride is People.“

Among the eight demands of this year’s Pride was the adoption of a law on same-sex unions and swift, adequate responses from state authorities, as well as public condemnation by government officials of hate speech and hate crimes against the LGBT community.

The godmother of this year’s Pride was singer Zejna. The event saw representatives from Serbian ministries and the opposition, but the highest state officials, including the Prime Minister, President, and Speaker of the Parliament, were absent.

British Ambassador Edward Ferguson attended Pride with his family and embassy members, emphasizing that he was there to show solidarity with the LGBT community, which has long fought for equality, but he also touched upon the lithium excavation protests while speaking to the press.

„We support the rights to protest and freedom of speech. Lithium is, clearly, a controversial issue. I think it is very important that there is a real debate based on facts. It may not have happened until now, but there is still time for it. I am from a country where freedom of speech is important,“ Ferguson said at Belgrade Pride.

„We all came to express solidarity with the LGBT community, which has been fighting for equality for a long time. The atmosphere is fantastic and the people are happy and proud. We in Britain adopted such a law in 2004, and it was a bit controversial then, but now it’s quite normal. It’s always hard for me to fully understand the challenges these people face. It’s a bit disappointing that we haven’t seen any progress since last year’s Pride until now, but I’m not the one who needs to tell your authorities what to do, you what to do.“