GAY rights activists in Serbia have held their first Pride march in four years, walking through Belgrade streets emptied of traffic and pedestrians by a massive security operation.

Thousands of riot police with armoured vehicles, water cannon, horses and shields sealed off streets leading to the site of the march from the government headquarters to parliament, to prevent a repeat of running battles with nationalists and football hooligans that took place in 2010.

Authorities banned Pride for the next three years, citing security concerns. Homophobia is widespread in Serbia and other conservative Balkan countries; the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church last week compared homosexuality to paedophilia and incest.

But with Serbia aiming to join the EU, the bloc has made clear it sees Pride as a litmus test of the country's commitment to defend the human rights of all.