Serbian Gov't Bans Belgrade Pride, Activists March On PM's Office

For the third year in a row, yesterday the Serbian government banned Belgrade Pride, citing security concerns over threats of violence by neo-Nazi groups who battled hundreds of riot police at Belgrade Pride 2010. After Prime Minister Ivica Dacic announced the ban on state television, activists marched on his office.

"After a long discussion on whether the march would pass without severe consequences, the security assessments indicated severe threats to public safety," Dacic said after a three-hour meeting with security chiefs. "This is not a capitulation to the hooligans," he said. But as night fell, around 200 gay activists waving rainbow flags and banners that read "This is Pride" gathered outside Dacic's government office before walking to parliament flanked by riot police. They chanted "This is Serbia" and "We have pride". "Tonight we exercised our right to gather peacefully, and I don't believe we bothered anyone in Serbia," said Goran Miletic, a human rights activist and the organizer of the gay pride march.