Attempt on the premier

last updated 8 January 2015

Belgrade

A truck swerved toward the Serbian prime minister’s car and almost crashed into it last week, in an incident the government is calling an assassination attempt. Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic is a reformer who led the street revolution that toppled Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, and he has vowed to lead the country to true democracy. But supporters of Milosevic, who include organized-crime bosses and former secret police, still wield considerable power behind the scenes. In 1999, the secret police staged a car accident that killed several associates of the opposition leader at that time, Vuk Draskovic. “Some people believe they can still get away with the kind of things they did under the previous regime,” Djindjic said on state radio. “They are seriously deluded.” The driver of the truck, well-known criminal “Bugsy” Milenkovic, was arrested.