Organisers of a Pride parade, set for 28 September in Belgrade, still do not know whether they will be given the greenlight for holding a peace march in the streets as this depends on a security assessment to be made by the police and relevant state agencies, LGBT community representatives told a news conference in the Serbian capital on Thursday.
Initial assessments of security conditions for the announced Pride will be made on 15 September and the organisers will receive a subsequent assessment just before the planned event on 28 September, LGBT activist Boban Stojanovic said.
"This is standard procedure, but what political decision will be made is yet unknown," he said.
It may happen that we receive the final decision 12 hours before the start of the event, Stojanovic said, adding that there would be no walk if the police assessed that they could not provide security for the marchers.
An ultra-right movement called "Dveri" has announced anti-parade protests on 28 September, accusing the authorities in Serbia of pursuing an anti-family policy.
The Serbian Orthodox Church has also raised its voice against the Pride parade.
On the other hand, 14 foreign ambassadors, including the Croatian ambassador in Belgrade, recently sent a letter to the Serbian government urging it to make sure that the parade was held in a peaceful atmosphere.
