Belgrade demo against 'growing fascism'

The protest was the first since the 2009 Belgrade gay pride parade was cancelled amid fears of violence in September.

Several hundred people protested on Monday in Belgrade against "growing fascism" in Serbia, marking the International Day against Fascism and Anti-Semitism on the anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht.

Around 200 mostly young protesters carried a banner reading "United against fascism" down central Belgrade streets, shouting anti-fascist slogans and surrounded by almost as many policemen to protect them.

The protest was the first since the 2009 Belgrade gay pride parade was cancelled amid fears of violence in September.

Reminding the crowd of a series of violent ultra-nationalist incidents in recent years, Jelena Veljic of the "Antifascists in Action" group called for a joint effort "of all society in the fight against fascism."

- Worried over the strengthening of fascism in our society and its growing brutal expression, we are obliged to confront it with determination and unity - she said.

- The victims are all of us who want to live in a society of solidarity and equality - Veljic said.

Protesters, some of whom wore placards reading "Anti-fascism is my choice" and "Enough with discrimination," greeted her words loudly and with raised clenched fists.

The protest ended without incident reported.

On November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, saw Nazi thugs attack hundreds of synagogues and Jewish businesses across Germany and was a prelude to the Holocaust.