EuroPride has been selecting host cities ever since 1992, but Belgrade is unique in that it will be the first city to host EuroPride outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Goran Miletić, Director of Civil Rights Defenders for Europe and member of the organising committee of Belgrade Pride, stated after the vote that the 2022 EuroPride is an opportunity for strengthening the Western Balkans LGBT community and reaffirming the promotion of European values and human rights in Serbia.
“EuroPride gives us the opportunity to present Belgrade as an indispensable tourist destination, safe and open to all. We believe that EuroPride will shine a light on issues of particular relevance to the LGBT community in Serbia and the region, such as the legal regulation of the same-sex partnership to the regional and European public”, said Miletić.
Miletić added that EuroPride will significantly aid the affirmation of the broader social consensus and respect towards diversity and freedoms.
“I would like to thank all human rights organisations from the Western Balkans who have always been our main allies, activists and volunteers gathered around Belgrade Pride, as well as the Tourist Organisation of Serbia for all of their wholehearted support,” said Goran Miletić of Belgrade Pride.
Belgrade Pride Coordinator Marko Mihailović said after announcing the decision on the location of EuroPride in 2022 that choosing Belgrade as the host city was a great recognition of the work and goals set by the Belgrade Pride organising team at the very beginning.
“We dedicate this victory to all our volunteers, activists and people who have supported us all these years. EuroPride 2022 in Belgrade gives us the opportunity to show Europe and the world the positive sides of the Balkans, but most importantly, with this event, we want to point out the deep differences we have in society, as well as the serious and systematic problem of discrimination and inequality that the LGBT community in the Western Balkans faces” said Mihailović.
EuroPride has been organized since 1992 – every year in another European city, gathering between tens of thousands of participants up to as many as 3 million in 2017 in Madrid.
