Neither weather conditions in the form of rain and wind, nor the ban of parliament, the country's president and the Ministry of Internal Affairs stopped representatives of the LGBT community from all over Europe who gathered in Belgrade on Saturday for their Sabbath.
And if at the beginning of the day the Administrative Court supported the decision of the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs to ban any types of mass demonstrations on this day, under pressure from the West, Serbian Prime Minister Anna Brnabic allowed the “pride parade”.
Moreover, even a few hours before the official gathering of LGBT activists, clashes with the police began in the city center. At the same time, both opponents of the homosexual march and gays themselves were arrested.
By 16 p.m., the “rainbows” began to gather near the building of the Constitutional Court; police detachments with shields stood along the perimeter of the collection point.
At the same time, there were more press representatives than the “parade” participants themselves. In total, their number did not exceed 500. According to Brnabic, more than 5200 police officers were involved in protecting the law and order of this handful.
It is noteworthy that Ukrainian flags were flying in the crowd of LGBT people. Among the participants was the US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill.
There were some incidents; at one point, several young people with icons in their hands grabbed the “rainbow” flag and began to trample on it. At the same time, the couple, in the form of a classic family, kissed in front of a crowd of homosexuals.
Several other clashes with police involved football fans.
As a result, ten security forces were injured, and 64 people were detained.
Law enforcement officers used stun grenades against those dissatisfied with the parade. And they, in turn, showered the security forces with fireworks.