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Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic buried in Lane of the Great
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Belgrade, March 15, 2003 - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was laid to rest today in the Lane of the Great of Belgrade's New Cemetery. President of the EU's Council of Ministers, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Serbian Minister of Justice Vladan Batic, Serbian Minister of Finance and Economy Bozidar Djelic, and Federal Interior Minister Zoran Zivkovic, also deputy president of the Democratic Party, each paid tribute to the late Prime Minister.
More than 100,000 people followed the Prime Minister on his final stroll through the streets of Belgrade.
The casket of the Prime Minister - draped in the red, blue and white Serbian flag - was displayed this morning in Saint Sava's Cathedral in central Belgrade. Tens of thousands of people came to pay their final respects to the assassinated Prime Minister. The requiem service was held from 12 noon to 13.00, in the presence of Patriarch Pavle and other Serbian Orthodox Church dignitaries.
The funeral procession of more than 100,000 mourners started out at 13.00 from Saint Sava's Cathedral, through Svetog Save Street, Slavija Circle, Beogradska Street, Kralja Aleksandra Boulevard, and Ruzveltova Street, to the New Cemetery where the Prime Minister was buried with full state and military honours.
Along with the late Prime Minister's mother Mila, widow Ruzica, daughter Jovana and son Luka, the funeral was attended by numerous foreign dignitaries, members of the Serbian government, Montenegrin officials, Serbia and Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic, Democratic Party representatives, the presidency of the ruling DOS coalition, members of other political parties, delegations of other religious communities and citizens carrying flowers, candles and photographs of the slain Prime Minister.
Citizens from all across Serbia arrived in Belgrade this morning to attend the funeral. The heavily guarded streets around Saint Sava's Cathedral were closed to vehicle traffic.
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