BELGRADE, Serbia — Thousands marched in central Belgrade on Saturday as Serbia’s annual Pride event turned into a pointed protest against police brutality and government repression. Organizers said this year’s Pride deliberately avoided its usual festival atmosphere, instead focusing on solidarity with student-led demonstrations that have gripped the country for nearly a year.
Pride Becomes Protest
Banners reading “Gays against police state!” and “Pump it up!” — a rallying cry of the student movement — were raised in the Serbian capital. Organizers accused authorities of violence and intimidation against demonstrators demanding snap elections.
“We cannot close our eyes at what’s happening in our country,” the Pride committee said in a statement. “Pride won’t take part in creating a semblance of normalcy.”
Origins of the Student Movement
The protests began in November after a train station canopy collapse in Novi Sad killed 16 people. Demonstrators blamed entrenched corruption and negligence for the tragedy, and their demands have since expanded into calls for new elections.
While the first nine months of rallies remained largely peaceful, August saw violent clashes between protesters and security forces. Rights groups say dozens of civilians have been injured, while police insist they have also suffered attacks from masked demonstrators.
Crackdown and Escalation
President Aleksandar Vucic has rejected calls for early elections, while intensifying a crackdown that has included firing professors and sending police into universities. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said 13 officers were injured and 42 protesters detained after Friday’s clashes in Novi Sad, where riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds at a university campus.
Students accused security forces of “brutal attacks on their own citizens,” while footage circulating online showed baton-wielding police chasing demonstrators through city streets.
A Nation on Edge
The unusual blending of Serbia’s Pride march with the student movement underscores deepening unrest in the country. For many in Belgrade, Saturday’s Pride was not just about LGBTQ+ rights but also about confronting what critics describe as Vucic’s increasingly authoritarian rule.
