Officials: Serbia's NATO ambassador leaps to death

**American Patriot** · December 5th, 2012, 14:14

December 05, 2012 11:44 AM (Last updated: December 05, 2012 02:55 PM)

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen (13th L) delivers a speech during a NATO-Georgia foreign ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels December 5, 2012. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

BRUSSELS: Serbia's ambassador to NATO suddenly jumped to his death off a parking garage platform at Brussels Airport while surrounded by his country's delegation, a diplomat said Wednesday.

The Serbian government said in a statement that Branislav Milinkovic, 52, died on Monday night, during two days of meetings of NATO foreign ministers.

Milinkovic was at the airport to meet deputy foreign minister Zoran Vujic and other officials who were due to hold talks with NATO representatives, three diplomats who knew him said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details. After the delegation arrived, as they walked over to their cars in the diplomatic garage Milinkovic suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over it and jumped, one of the diplomats said.

Serbia is not a member of the military alliance, but has a mission in the headquarters complex because it belongs to NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which groups neutral states.

"NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Serbian ambassador," alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said. "Ambassador Branislav Milinkovic was a highly respected representative of his country and will be missed at NATO headquarters."

Milinkovic, a former journalist, had previously served as Serbia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe in Vienna. He was appointed to the NATO post in 2009. Previously, he was active in the opposition to the authoritarian regime of Serbia's former strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

The statement described him as "an excellent diplomat, a leading intellectual and a noble man."

Milinkovic is survived by a wife and 6-year-old son.

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**American Patriot** · December 5th, 2012, 14:16

Diplomat: Serbia's NATO Ambassador Leaps to Death

Associated Press

BRUSSELS—Serbia's ambassador to NATO was chatting and joking with colleagues in a parking garage at Brussels Airport when he suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung himself to the ground below, a diplomat said.

Associated Press Serbia's Ambassador to NATO Branislav Milinkovic, seen here in a file photo in Brussels in 2006.

By the time his shocked colleagues reached him, Branislav Milinkovic was dead.
His motives are a mystery. Three diplomats who knew Mr. Milinkovic said he did not appear distraught in the hours leading up to his death Tuesday night. He seemed to be going about his regular business, picking up an arriving delegation of six Serbian officials who were due to hold talks with NATO, the alliance that went to war with his country just 13 years ago.
A former author and activist opposed to the authoritarian regime of Serbia's former strongman Slobodan Milosevic, he was a respected diplomat and leading intellectual, officials said.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details, said they knew of no circumstances—private or professional—that would have prompted him to take his own life.
One of the diplomats described the death to The Associated Press, saying she had spoken to a member of the delegation who had witnessed the leap from the 8- to 10-meter-high (26- to 33-foot-high) platform.
The diplomats all spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted by foreign service regulations to speak publicly to the press.
Speaking in Brussels, Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said that "Belgian police are investigating, but it's obviously a suicide. It's hard to figure out the motives or causes."
The death cast a pall on the second day of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Officials said they were shocked by the news of the death of a very popular and well-liked ambassador.
"NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Serbian ambassador," alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said. "Milinkovic was a highly respected representative of his country and will be missed at NATO headquarters."
During the 1990s, Mr. Milinkovic was active in the opposition to Milosevic. After he was ousted in 2000, Mr. Milinkovic was appointed Serbia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, or OSCE, in Vienna.
He was transferred to NATO as Serbia's special representative in 2004. Serbia is not a member of the military alliance, but Mr. Milinkovic was named ambassador after Belgrade joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which groups neutral states.
The move to join the NATO program had angered Serbian nationalists who are now in power. They have pledged the nation will never join because of its 1999 bombing campaign, during which it forced Milosevic's forces to withdraw from Serbia's southern province of Kosovo.
Mr. Milinkovic is survived by his wife and 17-year-old son.
Corrections & Amplifications
Branislav Milinkovic died Tuesday night, and his son is 17 years old. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the death was Monday night, and that his son is 6 years old.