Officials from EuroPride and Belgrade Pride commemorated the start of EuroPride 2022 in the Serbian capital with a ceremonial flag raising Monday as the event gets underway this week.

Concerns however, have been raised over safety for attendees and participants in the wake of massive anti-LGBTQ demonstrations and the government of Serbia issuing a ban.

During a routine Saturday press conference two weeks ago, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced that the international EuroPride event scheduled to be held from Sept. 12-18 was cancelled.

In his remarks the Serbian leader told reporters that his government had come under intense pressure from far right-wing groups and the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church to cancel the event. Vucic acknowledged that LGBTQ rights and people in the Balkan nation were under siege and threatened. However he deflected on the issue, “It is not a question of whether [those pressures] are stronger,” he said. “It’s just that at some point you can’t achieve everything, and that’s it.”

Undaunted, EuroPride and Belgrade Pride defiantly announced that the event would go on as scheduled.

“President Vucic cannot cancel someone else’s event. EuroPride is not cancelled, and will not be cancelled,” European Pride Organizers Association President Kristine Garina said.

“During the bidding process for EuroPride 2022, (the) prime minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic promised the full support of the Serbian government for EuroPride in Belgrade, and we expect that promise to be honored,” she added.

The kick-off was also attended by U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Christopher R. Hill who tweeted:

“Gratified to see a safe, secure start to #EuroPride2022. Congratulations @BelgradePride, @CDREurope, and the entire team of organizers behind @EuroPride. Looking forward to a week of great events with safety, security, and basic freedoms guaranteed for all.”

Gratified to see a safe, secure start to #EuroPride2022. Congratulations to @BelgradePride, @CDREurope, and the entire team of organizers behind @EuroPride. Looking forward to a week of great events with safety, security, and basic freedoms guaranteed for all. pic.twitter.com/H3JtUK6xEA

— Ambassador Christopher R. Hill (@usambserbia) September 12, 2022

On Sunday, several thousands of protesters took to the streets of Belgrade, many carrying huge Serbian and Russian flags, chanting pro-Russia, pro-Vladimir Putin and anti-LGBTQ slogans and marching to Belgrade’s St. Sava cathedral for prayers.

Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije led clerics and faithful in a prayer “for the sanctity of marriage and family” that accused “invisible forces” of imposing “ungodly and unnatural unions as a substitute for marriage and family.”

Radio Free Europe/Liberty reported that Brnabic, who is openly lesbian and was a participant in a 2017 Pride event in Belgrade, declined to intervene to support holding the EuroPride events in light of the ban decreed by Vucic.

She responded angrily on Monday to a local newspaper editor who accused Brnabic of selling out the LGBTQ community to become a “Progressive,” a reference to Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party, which she joined after becoming prime minister as an independent five years ago.

Brnabic accused the editor and other “enlightened elites” of cubbyholing gay people as incapable of holding diverse political views.

“[To them] if you’re gay, you can only be gay, period. It’s the only thing that defines you,” Brnabic tweeted. “You are not the prime minister — but LGBT.”

The translation of the tweet below reads: “The essence of discrimination that the “enlightened elite” neither sees nor cares about. If you’re gay, you can just be gay, period. It’s the only thing that defines you. You are not the prime minister — but LGBT. You are not a member of SNS — but LGBT. And they don’t see a single problem with it, they think it’s something smart.”

Суштина дискриминације коју нити види “просвећена елита” нити их то интересује. Ако си геј, можеш да будеш само геј и тачка. То је једино што те дефинише. Ниси премијер – него ЛГБТ. Ниси члан СНС – него ЛГБТ. И не виде ни један проблем у томе, већ мисле да је то нешто паметно. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/DbEN1xMLGk

— Ana Brnabic (@anabrnabic) September 12, 2022

There has been violence at previous Pride events being held in the Serbian capital city, most notably on Oct. 10, 2010, when anti-LGBTQ and ultra nationalist anti-government protesters fought with about 5,000 armed Serbian police resulting in 78 police officers and 17 civilians that were injured some seriously and more than 100 arrests and detentions.

The violence also severely damaged the car-park building of the ruling pro-European Democratic Party in an act of arson, the state television building and the headquarters of other political parties were also damaged.

The rioting came as Serbia was seeking admittance as a European Union member state.

A spokesperson for the ILGA-Europe said that since 2014 Pride events were held in Belgrade under mostly peaceful conditions, but there is extreme pushback from the ultra-nationalist groups and especially those groups aligned with the Orthodox Church.

On Tuesday, the European Union’s Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, issued a statement regarding Serbia’s stance on EuroPride and the ban by Vucic:

“It is highly regrettable that the Serbian authorities have decided to ban the EuroPride march scheduled for Sept. 17. Weeks of uncertainty concerning the holding of this march have sent a wrong message to the public and made space for hateful rhetoric and more threats against LGBTI people, including from religious leaders,” said Mijatović.

“Instead of bowing to threats and hate by banning the EuroPride march, the Serbian authorities have the responsibility to ensure that everyone in society can exercise their right to enjoy the same freedoms and is equal in dignity.” Mijatović noted continuing:

“As I have stressed in my conversations with the Serbian authorities at the highest level over the past two weeks, the fact that EuroPride takes place in Serbia this week is also of great significance for the south-eastern European region, where much still needs to be done to combat discrimination and hate against LGBTI people. Hosting EuroPride sends the signal that the march toward equality is in progress. It is positive that Pride marches have taken place peacefully in recent years in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Tirana, Podgorica and Skopje and I call on the Serbian authorities to be on the right side of history by enabling a peaceful and safe EuroPride march next Saturday.”