Reports say Serbia's ambassador to NATO committed suicide Tuesday by jumping to his death from an airport parking garage in Brussels.
Officials say Branislav Milinkovic was laughing and chatting with a Serbian delegation before suddenly leaping off a wall, falling 10 meters to the ground below the garage.
Airport officials confirmed that a man had fallen from the parking garage and that they were unable to save his life.
The Serbian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement that Milinkovic had “died tragically” on the job in Brussels. Belgian officials said they were certain it was a suicide.
Colleagues said they had seen no indication that Milinkovic would take his own life.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement that he is “deeply saddened” by the incident and that Milinkovic was “highly respected” at the organization.
Serbia is not a NATO member, but belongs to the alliance's “Partnership for Peace,” a program that provides for cooperation with the alliance without granting participants NATO security guarantees.
Before serving at NATO, Milinkovic represented Serbia with the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe.
