Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister briefs diplomats

Belgrade, March 13, 2003 - Serbia and Montenegro Minister of Foreign Affairs Goran Svilanovic held on Thursday night a briefing for heads of diplomatic missions following the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.

Svilanovic said that the heinous act will neither jeopardise the reform process nor stop the state's resolute and uncompromising efforts to fight organised crime and create a democratic society, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The assassination of the Prime Minister is an act of organised crime aimed against the democratic order, the rule of law and the reform process embodied by Zoran Djindjic, said Svilanovic.

Informing representatives of the diplomatic corps in Belgrade on the recently-imposed state of emergency in the country, Svilanovic said that the measure aims to protect the constitutional order and crack down on organised crime members. He added that the country has informed the UN Secretary General and the OSCE on its decision to declare the state of emergency.