(7 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Belgrade, Serbia 07 September 2024
1. Wide of participants playing drums before Pride march
2. Various of the participants gathering at the march
3. Various participants waving rainbow flags
4. Various of participants
5. Participants carrying large rainbow flag in procession
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mikhail Afanasev, Russian living in Serbia:
"I came from Russia where I am completely prohibited as person as gay, human being, like I am completely banned ( member of) community there so for me actually, even (though) there are lot of issues in Serbia, this one day a year is like possibility to express myself freely, yes, we are protected by police here in this place and it is still dangerous to be outside of this space, but I hope that it will be somehow until people allowed to gather here by Serbian government, possibly this day we can influence somehow minds of people outside this space, to express our visibility, our opinion, to tell everyone that we are actually humans, so we have feelings. We want to love, we want to live in free society, even want to have those rights like all other people have.”
7. People arriving at event
8. Man wearing rainbow flag on his hat
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Maxime Le Gal, visitor from France:
” I am here at pride in Belgrade because it is important to fight for our rights and to celebrate diversity in this country and everywhere in the world. Coming from France and I know how hard it is to be accepted by our families and everything, so I think it is really important and I love seeing so many diverse people here in Belgrade, so yes, I am enjoying it.”
10. Various of participants marching
11. Wide of protesters, police seen in the distance
12. Various of march
14. Various of police cordons on the streets

STORYLINE:
A pride march was held in Serbia on Saturday under heavy police protection due to possible attacks from rightwing extremists.

Several thousand took part in the march in the capital Belgrade, calling for better rights for the LGBTQ+ community, who often face harassment and discrimination in the highly conservative Balkan country.

Organizers said assailants assaulted a young gay man in Belgrade two days ago and took away his rainbow flag.

Serbia is formally seeking entry into the European Union but its democracy record is poor.

Serbia's LGBTQ+ community are demanding that authorities pass a law on samesex partnerships and boost other rights.

Participants carried rainbow flags and various banners as they danced to loud music played from a truck at the front of the march column.

The crowd walked outside the Serbian government headquarters and the national assembly building.

Western ambassadors in Serbia, opposition politicians and liberal ministers from the Serbian government joined the event.

But the rightwing Belgrade mayor openly opposed the pride gathering.

Pride marches in the past have been marked by tensions and sometimes skirmishes and clashes between extremist groups and police.

The populist government of President Aleksandar Vucic in 2022 first banned a panEuropean pride event in Belgrade but later backed down and allowed the march to take place.

AP video shot by Ivan Bzganovic


===========================================================

Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel +44(0)2074827482 Email: [email protected].

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...