Amid a slew of blows and homophobic insults, the woman on the bus lashed out at Aleksandar Savic and stabbed him with a sharp object. Later, in the emergency room, doctors treated Savic for a cut to the calf and injuries to his eye.
Incidents like the July 11 attack on Savic — also know as drag queen Alexis Plastik — don't happen often in Belgrade. But violence against people who don't look or act like the mainstream in the EU candidate country is becoming increasingly common.
Just a few hours earlier, Vladimir Arsenijevic, author and program director of the annual Krokodil Literary Festival, was attacked in central Belgrade in the middle of the day by right-wing thugs, as he was preparing for a memorial event commemorating the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.
Speaking with broadcaster N1, Plastik called out the "epidemic of violence" in Serbia. The increasing violence by groups associated with President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, has reinforced the feeling among many people that anyone who is different can become a target, and that no one is safe.
Participants in the 2023 Pride parade in Belgrade were confronted by anti-gay protesters and a heavy police presenceImage: Marko Drobnjakovic/AP Photo/picture alliance
