Belgrade will host a Gay Pride parade today for the first time in four years after being banned for security reasons as ultra-nationalists attacked marchers and fought running battles with police in Belgrade in 2010. More than 100 people were injured in serious clashes.

Serbia Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said yesterday, ‘Despite disagreements, the bureau coordinating security services did not ban the pride parade on Sunday.’

He urged all citizens to refrain from violence as authorities could still cancel the march if the threat to security was too great.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic warned that ‘whoever tries to provoke incidents will be very, very severely punished’ after ultra-nationalists and far-right groups have threatened to protest.

The country, which is pursuing European Union membership, has reportedly come under pressure from the Union, which says the event is a test of Serbia’s commitment to the fundamental freedoms promoted by the bloc.

Homophobia is widespread in Serbia, often supported by right-wing parties and church leaders.

The head of Serbia’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, has condemned the march saying that the ‘shameless‘ event casts a moral shadow on Serbia.

He was quoting as saying in Europe Online Magazine, ‘That absurd parading … forces the authorities to activate almost the entire security apparatus to protect this insignificant group.’

He added that the government should not waste money on securing homosexuals after suffering the immense costs of disastrous floods earlier this year.

It also made parallels between homosexuality and pedophilia.

InSerbia estimates that 7,000 members of the police and the Gendarmerie will provide the security for the Pride Parade.

Two weeks ago a German activist, who attended a conference on gay rights, was severely beaten in downtown Belgrade and hospitalised for several days with serious head injuries.

Belgrade Pride’s ‘Pride for all’ video