Belgian deputy PM opens human rights conference on forbidden Europride in Serbia
Belgian deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter will open a human rights conference in Serbia on 13 September. The conference is organised on the sidelines of the EuroPride, which was forbidden by the Serbian authorities.
De Sutter was invited by the organisation of Europride. "The Serbian president wants to ban the march, high-ranking religious people threaten violence, according to a political leader 95 per cent of Serbs are against the pride and it is called a peripheral and idiotic subject", says De Sutter. She therefore did not hesitate for a second about being asked to open the human rights conference and hopes that her speech "will be a heartbeat for all LGBTQI+ people".
De Sutter will speak in the company of delegates from the United Nations and people from European institutions. "We are also aiming to visit a place where LGBTQI+ people come together. That way, I can talk about their human rights situation myself. In addition, there will be intense contact with our embassy and the people we will meet there."
Today, De Sutter will receive a delegation of Hungarian LGBTQI+ people, including the chairman of Budapest Pride. Their country passed a law last summer banning the education of minors about homosexuality and sex change.
"I feel that in some countries we are at a turning point. The decline of LGBTQI+ rights, and human rights in general, cannot go unchallenged. That is why our country intends to support the European Commission in the so-called infringement procedure against Hungary," De Sutter added. In concrete terms, Belgium intends to present legal arguments in the case before the European Court of Justice as to why, according to our country, EU law has been violated by Hungary.
© BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT - Vice-prime minister and minister of Civil Services and State-owned companies Petra De Sutter pictured during pictured during a press conference, Tuesday 19 July 2022.