Pride Week as of May 19, Parade on last day

BELGRADE - The 2014 Pride Week will be held in Belgrade from May 19 to 31 and the protest march in the downtown should be staged on the last day of the event, Goran Miletic of the Belgrade Pride Organisation Board said.

”This year's Pride Parade will last longer and it will feature a number of cultural events and activities, including exhibitions and concerts,” Miletic told Tanjug and added that the plans for the protest march and route would be sent to the police.

Miletic expects the meetings with representatives of the authorities concerning Pride Parade organisation to be held after the constitution of the new government and he noted that the support of future prime minister Aleksandar Vucic to the event would be important.

LGBT activists have been trying to organise the Pride Parade in Belgrade since 2009 and it was held only once, in 2010, when street riots broke out.

The Pride Parade was cancelled four times so far due to risks related to potential physical confrontations with parade opponents.

In 2013, the Pride Parade was banned for security reasons but LGBT activists gathered spontaneously in front of the government building on September 27 and organised a protest march to the parliament building.