Europeanisation and indirect resistance: Serbian police and Pride Parades

Abstract

Serbia's Europeanisation, including police reform in accordance with European policing standards, has been far from smooth. A case in point has been the lasting inability of the Serbian government and its police forces to protect the freedom of public assembly of Serbia's lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer (LGBTIQ) community. In this article we investigate the role of the police in the organisation of Pride Parades between 2001 and 2013. Although the police was unable to openly challenge the freedom of public assembly, strongly insisted upon by the European Union (EU) and also guaranteed by domestic law, it nevertheless practiced three forms of indirect resistance: ‘hypersecuritisation’, ‘technical obstructions’ and ‘responsibility transfer’. The analysis of the role of Serbia's police in the unsuccessful organisation of Pride Parades provides us with unique insights into how Europeanisation is contested and resisted not necessarily at the level of the official discourse but rather at the level of practice.

Keywords:

• Serbia
• Europeanisation
• police reform
• Pride Parade
• indirect resistance

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Gemma Collantes-Celador, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Jelena Subotić and the anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Filip Ejdus is currently Marie Curie Fellow at the Global Insecurities Centre, University of Bristol where he is working on a project on ‘Local Ownership in SSR Activities within EU CSDP [Common Security and Defence Policy] Operations’. Since 2012 he has been Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Serbia. He studied International Relations and Security Studies at the University of Belgrade, Sciences Po Paris and London School of Economics (LSE). He is closely involved with the security policy community as a board member of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, academic coordinator at the Belgrade Security Forum (2011–2015) and the co-chair of the Regional Stability in South East Europe Study Group at the PfP (Partnership for Peace) Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes. Ejdus is a founder and co-editor of Journal of Regional Security.

Mina Božović is Teaching Assistant for Methodology of Psychological Research, Statistics and Psychometrics at the Department of Psychology, Faculty for Media and Communications, Singidunum University (Belgrade, Serbia). She received her BA (2010) and MA (2012) in Psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. She is currently doing her PhD in Personality Psychology at the same faculty. Her research focuses on understanding how personal factors (personality) interact with situational and environmental factors to shape people's lives and important social outcomes. From March 2009 till March 2012 she was a member of the organisational board of the Belgrade Pride Parade.

Notes

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5. Tamara Pavasović Trost and Nikola Kovačević, ‘Soccer, Hooliganism and Nationalism: The Reaction to Serbia’s Gay Parade in Reader Commentary Online’, Sport in Society 16, no. 8 (2013): 1054–76; Nielsen, ‘Stronger Than the State?’, 1038–53.

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9. Ibid., 7.

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26. Ibid., 18.

27. Serbia officially started negotiations with the EU in January 2014. However, by October 2015 none of the chapters had yet been opened due to problems related to the normalization with Kosovo.

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45. Government of the Republic of Serbia, Office of Human and Minority Rights, Strategija prevencije i zaštite od diskriminacije [Strategy on Prevention and Protection Against Discrimination], 25 June 2013, 38–40, www.ljudskaprava.gov.rs/images/pdf/Strategija_jul_2013.doc (accessed 4 November, 2013).

46. Saša Đorđević, ‘Zaštita ljudskih prava’ [Human Rights Protection], in Hadžić and Stojanović, Godišnjak reforme sektora bezbdnosti u Srbiji 2008–2011, 382.

47. Gay Straight Alliance, ‘Prejudices Exposed – Homophobia in Serbia: Public Opinion Research Report on LGBT Population’, http://en.gsa.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Research-Prejudices-Exposed-2008-GSA.pdf (accessed November 4, 2013).

48. Izveštaj sa istraživanja javnog mnenja: Odnos građana prema diskriminaciji u Srbiji [Public Opinion Poll Report: Citizens and Discrimination in Serbia] (Belgrade: CeSID, 2012), http://www.mc.rs/upload/documents/saopstenja_izvestaji/2012/121012_Poverenik_za_zastitu_ravnopravnosti-istrazivanje.pdf (accessed November 4, 2013).

49. Commission of the European Communities, Serbia 2008 Progress Report, Government of the Republic of Serbia European Integration Office, http://www.seio.gov.rs/upload/documents/sporazumi_sa_eu/progress_report_2008.pdf (accessed November 4, 2013).

50. Ibid., 16.

51. European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joint Report to the European Parliament and the Council on Serbia's Progress in achieving the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria and notably the key priority of taking steps towards a visible and sustainable improvement of relations with Kosovo*, 22 April 2013, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2013/sr_spring_report_2013_en.pdf (accessed July 27, 2014).

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53. Saopštenja politickih grupa i NVO, ‘Razbijanje Gay Parade’ [Announcement of Political Groups and NGOs: Crackdown of the Gay Parade], News release, 30 June 2001, http://www.b92.net/specijal/gay-parada/gay-saop.phtml (accessed December 10, 2013).

54. Ibid.

55. Labris, ‘Labris poziva: Otkažite gej paradu u Novom Sadu’ [Labris Demands: Cancel te Parade in Novi Sad], News release, 17 July 2007, http://www.gayecho.com/common/news-print.aspx?id=5377&burl=%2Fvesti.aspx%3Fid%3D5377%26grid%3D2054%26page%3D66 (accessed December 10, 2013).

56. See EU Progress reports for Serbia for years 2006, 2007 and 2008, http://www.seio.gov.rs/documents/eu-documents.231.html (accessed December 10, 2013).

57. Zoran Dragišić, ‘Bezbednosna procena javnog skupa ‘Parada ponosa’ [Security Assessment of the Public Gathering] (unpublished report, 2009).

58. Constitutional appeal, Už-1918/2009, 19 September 2009.

59. Personal recollections of a member of the Organizational Board of the 2010 Pride Parade.

60. Ibid.

61. Barry Buzan, The United States and the Great Powers: World Politics in the Twenty-First Century’ (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004), 172.

62. Obraz and 1389 are extreme right-wing organizations advocating Serbian nationalism, clericalism and anti-Westernism. Whereas the former was proclaimed illegal by the Constitutional Court in 2012, the latter is registered as a civil society organization.

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70. Mikuš, ‘State Pride’, 842.

71. Ibid, 835.

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74. Personal recollections of a member of the Organizational Board of the 2010 Pride Parade.

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76. Trost and Kovačević, ‘Soccer, Hooliganism and Nationalism’, 1058.

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78. Personal interview, Zoran Dragišić, 22 October 2013.

79. Interview with Ivica Dačić, Alo, 31 October 2010, http://www.akademediasrbija.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1529:intervju-ivica-daim-ministar-policije&catid=38:cat-komentari-vesti&Itemid=54 (accessed December 10, 2013).

80. Commission of the European Communities, Serbia 2010 Progress Report, Government of the Republic of Serbia European Integration Office, 13,

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81. The European Parliament, The European Parliament Resolution of 19 January 2011 on the European integration Process of Serbia, 2011, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0014+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN (accessed December 10, 2013).

82. ‘Irinej: Ne odrzati “paradu srama”‘ [Irinej: Not to Organised the ‘Shame Parade’], B92, 30 September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=30&nav_category=12&nav_id=545921 (accessed November 20, 2013). On the role of religious institutions in justifying anti-LGBT attitudes see Tamara Pavasović Trost and Koen Slootmaekers, ‘Religion, Homosexuality and Nationalism in the Western Balkans: The Role of Religious Institutions in Defining the Nation’, in Gods, Gays and Governments: Religious and Sexual Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, eds. S. Sremac and R.R. Gazenvoort (Leiden: Brill, 2015).

83. ‘Policajci i Dveri protiv parade’ [Policemen and Dveri Against the Parade], B92, 22 September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=22&nav_id=543814 (accessed December 6, 2013).

84. Personal interview, Veljko Mijailović, President of the Police Union of Serbia, 26 November 2013.

85. Personal interview, Goran Miletić, member of the Organizational Board, 20 November 2013.

86. Ibid.

87. Personal recollections of a member of the Organizational Board of the 2010 Pride Parade.

88. Ministry of Interior, Bezbednosna procena u vezi održavanja ‘Parade ponosa’ 2011 [Security Assessment in relation to the organization of ‘Pride Parade’ 2011], 28 September 2011.

89. Personal interview, Boban Stojanović, President of NGO Queeria and member of the Organizational Board, 20 November 2013.

90. Personal recollections of a member of the Organizational Board of the 2010 Pride Parade.

91. Filip Ejdus, ‘Bezbednosni rizik i parada ponosa’ [Security Risk and Pride Parade], Peščanik, 21 September 2012, www.pescanik.net/2012/09/bezbednosni-rizik-i-parada-ponosa (accessed December 6, 2013).

92. Ustavni sud, ‘Presuda Ustavnog suda po ustavnoj žalbi’ [Verdict of the Constitutional Court], http://www.ustavni.sud.rs/Storage/Global/Documents/Misc/Uz-5284-2011.pdf (accessed December 6, 2013).

93. European Commission, Analytical Report - Commission Opinion on Serbia's Application for Membership of the European Union, http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2011/package/sr_analytical_rapport_2011_en.pdf (accessed December 6, 2013).

94. Boris Tadić to Thorbjorn Jagland, Belgrade, 21 October 2011 (unpublished letter), http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=22&nav_id=543814 (accessed December 6, 2013).

95. Commission of the European Communities, Serbia 2010 Progress Report, 14.

96. Marina Mirković and Jovana Mikašinović, ‘Zločin iz mržnje: Novom odredbom zakona bolja zaštita LGBT osoba?’, [Hate Crime: New regulation for better protection of LGBT Persons], Telegraf, 28 August 28 2013, http://www.telegraf.rs/vesti/813962-zlocin-iz-mrznje-novom-odredbom-zakona-bolja-zastita-lgbt-osoba-video (accessed December 6, 2013).

97. Personal interview, Boban Stojanović, 23 October 2013.

98. Personal interview, official of the European Integration Office, 29 October 2013.

99. Christian Axboe Nielsen, ‘The Cyclical Farce of Serbian Gay Pride’, Balkan Insight, 7 October 2013, http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/the-cyclical-farce-of-serbian-gay-pride (accessed November 20, 2013).

100. Lazar Ranitović, ‘Otvoreno pismo g. Nikoliću, Dačićiu i Vučiću povodom najave javnog skupa 28. septembra 2013.’, Sindikat srpske policije, http://ssp.org.rs/arhive/5658 (accessed December 10, 2013).

101. Ibid.

102. Personal interview, senior official in the Union of the Serbian police, 11 December 2013.

103. ‘Dačić: Jel bi trebalo da postanem gej da bi Parada uspela?’ [Should I Become Gay for the Parade to Succeed?], Kurir, 23 September 2013, http://www.kurir-info.rs/dacic-jel-bi-trebalo-da-postanem-gej-da-bi-parada-uspela-clanak-999431. (accessed December 11, 2013).

104. ‘Dačić: Nije normalno biti homoseksualac!’ [Its not Normal to be a Homosexual], Kurir, 25 September 2013,

http://www.kurir-info.rs/dacic-nije-normalno-biti-homoseksualac-clanak-1001325 (accessed December 11, 2013).

105. For the competences of the Bureau see: Law on Basic Principles of the Organization of the Security Services of the Republic of Serbia, 2007. The subject matter of public assembly is regulated by The Law on Assembly of Citizens (1992). See also Rakić Vodinelić, Jadnici, Peščanik, 30 Septembar 2013, http://pescanik.net/2013/09/jadnici/ (accessed December 10, 2013).

106. Personal interview, senior official in the Ministry of Interior, 21 October 2013.

107. Personal interview, Saša Đorđević, research fellow at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, 7 December 2013.

108. Commission of the European Communities, Serbia 2013 Progress Report, Government of the Republic of Serbia European Integration Office, 45–6. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2013/package/sr_rapport_2013.pdf (accessed December 10, 2013).

109. Personal interview, Marije Cornelissen, Member of the European Parliament, 22 October 2013.

110. Bernhard Stahl, ‘Another “Strategic Accession”? The EU and Serbia (2000-2010)’, Nationalities Papers 41, no. 3 (2013): 447–68.

111. ‘Parada nije zabranjena, nova procena sutra’ [The parade is not banned, new assessment tomorrow], RTS, 26 September 2014, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/Društvo/1706797/Parada+nije+zabranjena,+nova+procena+sutra.html (accessed December 16, 2014).

112. ‘Prvo novac, zatim parade ponosa’ [First the money, then the Pride Parade], B92, 24 September 2014, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2014&mm=09&dd=24&nav_id=903500. (Accessed December 16, 2014).