by Eric Foegelin for the Saker blog

On Saturday, September 17, an assortment of freaks such as that unhappy country had never before seen descended upon Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Their arrival was prompted by the dubious honor bestowed on Belgrade when that city won an international competition to host this year’s Euro Pride.

Who applied for that distinction on behalf of the citizens of Belgrade, one might rightly ask? It was not done by public acclamation, but in great secrecy and only became known a few months ago. Once they found out, the lucky citizens organized to express their indignation. For three weeks prior to the scheduled LGBT Euro Pride festivities, tens of thousands of Serbs staged mass religious processions in opposition to the unwanted event and in strong affirmation of traditional family values. It turned out that the applicant on their behalf, in 2019, was none other than the Serbian government itself. Its rationale is a matter of speculation, but it is highly likely that pandering to the collective West was a major motive.

Anyone familiar with the scenery surrounding mass LGBT events in San Francisco, Amsterdam, and similar venues, would have recognized unmistakably in Belgrade the guiding hand of the same degenerate ideology that is behind similar freak shows in Western countries. On September 17, displays of public lasciviousness and provocative immorality in Belgrade were also the order of the day. It was a ground- breaking precedent not only for overwhelmingly traditionalist Serbia, but for the entire Balkan region as well. 

Collage of freaks who descended on Serbia. Note, upper left, derisory portrayal of Jesus Christ, with a mock crown of thorns and crucifixion wounds, and, upper right, indecent exposure in front of the Church of St. Mark in Belgrade

US Ambassador Christopher Hill, in the middle, who exerted major pressure on the Serbian government to permit the outrage, is showing obvious satisfaction with a job well done

The government, which to show commitment to “European values” in 2019 set the stage for the divisive event, was clearly taken aback by massive popular opposition which erupted on the streets of Belgrade, with priests, monks, and up to a 100,000 prayerful citizens with icons and religious banners marching in opposition to what they saw as the deliberate desecration of their capital and humiliation of their country. As a result, the authorities made a half-hearted effort to ban the manifestation. However, after outraged howls from European Union officials and Western political figures, including the US Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, they caved in and let the LGBT manifestation proceed even though technically it had been banned, but on a somewhat reduced scale.

One cannot help recalling the recent remark by German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who stunned quite a few observers when she said that she did not much care for the opinions of the German people about her government’s self-destructive support for Ukraine, as long as it was in furtherance of common European policies and “values.”

It appears that the Serbian authorities are taking their inspiration from Baerbock. LGBT-friendly content, including gender mumbo-jumbo, has already been stealthily introduced in Serbian school textbooks, to the utter consternation of parents and befuddlement of children. Trial balloons about same sex marriage, including adoption of children by LGBT couples, have already been launched in the tightly supervised media, control of which is shared by the ruling regime and Western-based foreign corporations.

The selection of Belgrade to host this year’s Euro Pride was an important tool in the relentless campaign to devalue and break down the local culture and undermine the traditional values that sustain it. As a battering ram, Euro Pride in Serbia has served its sponsors well this year, though it may not have accomplished all of its objectives. The in your face mockery of local people’s sanctities, under the familiar pretext of promoting “diversity,” presages a long and brutal attack on one of the last remaining outposts of traditionalism and relative decency in Europe. Whether the people of Serbia will have the backbone to successfully resist the intensifying assault on their identity and culture, or will succumb like most Western nations, remains to be seen.