Resulting in much controversy, the
Serbian government recently put a ban upon a gay pride march set to
be held in Belgrade this Saturday. As a result, the EU has informed
the Serbian government that they must protect human rights if they
still wish to join the union. The Serbian government was officially
made an EU candidate in March, but this ban puts them at risk of
having that candidacy revoked. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic
stated that this was a security issue. In the past, protesters
opposing the march clashed violently with police, so the march was
banned last year as well. However, it is relatively certain that
these are not the only reasons that this ban was enacted this year.
Patriarch Irinej, head of the Orthodox Church, called the pride event
a “parade of shame” and called on Dacic to stop it from
occurring. Irinej and the Islamic Community also tried to get Dacic
to ban a photo exhibition that portrayed Jesus in women's clothing
and heels, but the government did not enact this and in fact, police
protected the exhibition. However, because of the riots in the past,
the prime minister thinks the parade would be more of a safety risk.
There is clear hypocrisy here, but
while that is true, the safety concerns are also valid. However, it
seems fully justified for the EU to threaten terminating the
candidacy in light of this. While cultural relativism should always
be kept in mind, in the terms of the EU, banning this parade is a
human rights violation. Many representatives have stated this and
have come out against the ban. Limiting expression of a minority,
oppressed group under the pretense of safety while being influenced
by religious leaders is highly suspect. Since this clearly violates
the parameters of the EU's human rights requirements, they can be
denied membership.
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