Euro Pride event in Belgrade. The bigots are getting busy. Three stories two different sources.

[Pete Ross Junior]

First two are background.

EuroPride 2022 flag raised in Belgrade
Council of Europe official press release

The raising of the flag with the EuroPride 2022 symbol on the building of the French Embassy in Belgrade marked the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

"France, which holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, wanted today, with this symbolic gesture of raising the Europride flag and the reception for the LGBTQI + community in Serbia, to emphasize the commitment of France and the European Union to equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity." said the Ambassador of France to Serbia, Pierre Cochard, at the reception on the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia.

The reception, organized by the French Embassy in Serbia together with the Council of Europe and the LGBTI + community in Serbia, draws public attention to the EuroPride 2022 event, which will be held in Belgrade from September 12 to 18.

Belgrade will be the first city in this part of Europe and the first city outside the European Economic Area to have the opportunity to organize this European event.

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Serbian Bishop’s Curse Against Belgrade EuroPride Condemned
Balkan Insight An OK site. Here's a Wikipedia link ==> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Insight

A Serbian Orthodox bishop has been criticised for saying the forthcoming Europe Pride event in Belgrade will “desecrate” Belgrade, and saying he wished he could take up a weapon to stop it.

The Program Director of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, YIHR, Sofija Todorovic, said Bishop Nikanor of Banat’s talk about cursing the organizers and participants in Euro Pride and using weapons against them was a “direct threat” to a whole group of people.

“Once again, we are witnessing that the bishops and heads of the church are dealing with things that are not within their authority, but in a way that actually directly threaten a certain group, in which there is probably a larger number, among others, of believers,” Todorovic told BIRN.

“In this way, officials of the Serbian Orthodox Church are abusing the position and legitimacy they have among citizens of Serbia who are believers, in order to spread ideas that are discriminatory and that, ultimately, completely dehumanize a group of people,” she added.

The Director of Civil Right Defenders Europe, Goran Miletic, told Kurir newspaper that the statement “represents open hate speech towards the LGBT community, but also towards Croats and the [gay] Prime Minister of Serbia”.

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And finally, today's news.

Thousands March in Belgrade to Protest Against Euro Pride
Balkan Insight

Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade city centre on Sunday to demonstrate against the international LGBT event Euro Pride that is scheduled to be held in Belgrade in September.

According to local media reports, there were between 5,000 and 10,000 people present at the protest. The demonstrators began walking from in front of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarchate offices and, after passing through city centre streets, ended up in front of Saint Marko Church.

The gathered crowd wore signs saying “We don’t want a gay parade and occupation by the West!”, “We don’t give up holy places”, and “Keep your hands off our children”.

Some local media reported that the protest organiser was an informal association under the banner “To protect the family”, while Danas reported it was organised by the Association for the Preservation of the Cyrillic alphabet ‘Dobrica Eric’ and other “groups that declare themselves Orthodox and Saint Sava”.

Bosko Obradovic, leader of the Serbian right-wing opposition party Dveri, described it as “the largest opposition protest in the last few years held in Belgrade that is not controlled by anyone from the [Serbian Progressive Party] SNS or former government”.

“And not only against Euro-NATO-Pride, but also in support of Russia and the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia. A new patriotic (op)position has been born and is yet to come,” Obradovic wrote on Twitter on Monday.

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Emphasis added. Not just anti-gay religion, also pro-Russia + irredentist nationalism.