Serbian, Foreign Officials Condemn Anti-gay Riots

The Serbian government strongly condemned the vandalism and violence carried out by rioters on Sunday in Belgrade and announced it would take all legal measures to ensure that the perpetrators and organisers of violence are brought to justice.

“Serbia is a democratic country where everyone has the right to free expression, but no one can threaten public order, attack police and destroy the city and the property of citizens with impunity,” a government statement said.

Violent riots broke out on Sunday in several parts of the city following a gay pride parade. Anti-gay protesters clashed with police, leaving more than 100 people, mostly police officers, injured and causing more than one million euros in damage to the downtown area.

Slobodan Homen, state secretary in the Serbian Justice Ministry, said that the state’s response to the unrest in Belgrade on Sunday “will be fierce.”

“This is not a question of gay pride and their rights, but a question of the rights of citizens to walk and live in this country,” he said, claiming that no one could have imagined that such incidents would take place during the parade.

Jelko Kacin, the European Parliament rapporteur on Serbia, said that Belgrade had sent a very bad message to the world that could negatively influence the Dutch government’s stance on Serbia’s further progress towards the EU.

“The images of Belgrade under siege that have circulated the world have sent a very bad message about the lack of basic tolerance towards minorities in Serbia, but also the inefficiency of state institutions,” he said in a statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, meanwhile, said in a statement that it welcomed the professionalism and restraint shown by the Serbian Interior Ministry, the police service and city’s government during the Pride Parade, and their ability to secure the safety of participants in the parade.

Members of some right-wing organisations which took part in the violence called on the values promoted by the Serbian Orthodox Church, SPC.

However, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, said that none of the rioters who clashed with police had the authority of the SPC.

“His Holiness Patriarch calls on everyone to do what they can to re-establish peace on the streets of this city, noting that there is no goal that could justify endangering the lives of people,” Bishop Atanasije said in the name of the patriarch.

Despite the violent riots by anti-gay protesters, the organisers of the pride parade believe they accomplished their goals.

“It’s important that the Pride Parade happened for the first time after ten years of attempts to organise it,” Lazar Pavlovic of the Gay Straight Alliance said.

He added that the fact that organisers were able to hold the event this year shows that the political climate in the country has changed.

Foreign media cover the riots and the Serbian government’s response

Most foreign media outlets carried stories on Sunday’s riots.

The Financial Times dubbed the violence: “Belgrade’s worst street violence since the US embassy was set ablaze two and a half years ago”, while the BBC’s Mark Lowen said: “It got very nasty.”

The Independent, meanwhile, explained why the Serbian government took a firmer stance against the extremist groups this year.

“Serbia is more desperate now to join the European Union than it was in 2001 – and is expecting the release of a European Commission report on its candidacy in which the issue of respect for minority rights will feature.”

There have been two previous attempts to hold a pride rally in Serbia.

The first, in June 2001, was brought to a halt after clashes with protestors left several civilians and policemen injured.
 
Almost eight years later, the country’s parliament adopted an Anti-Discrimination Law prohibiting, among other things, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status.
 
The second planned pride rally in Belgrade, which was scheduled to take place in September last year, was cancelled after police declared the risk to the marchers’ personal security was too great following threats from right-wing groups to disrupt the event.