Luis Ayllón
The Spanish Government condemned “the physical assault on the Serbian ambassador, Irena Šarac, in Madrid”, according to official sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who told The Diplomat, yesterday.
The ambassador, as The Diplomat reported, was attacked on Sunday afternoon by a person who heard her speaking Serbian. The attacker, who spoke Albanian, ran away from the scene after kicking her in the back.
The assault occurred at number 39 on Velázquez Street, very close to the Serbian Embassy. A National Police patrol attended to the ambassador, who filed a formal complaint yesterday.
The Police are investigating what happened and have reinforced surveillance around the Embassy. Foreign Ministry sources consulted by The Diplomat said that the Ministry is closely following the investigation and stated: “Violence has no place in Europe.” On Sunday, after the attack, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Juric denounced the incident on social media, calling it an “insidious attack” and calling for “rapid and decisive action” as well as “a full investigation and accountability for the perpetrator.”
The aforementioned sources indicated that since the attack became known, the State Secretary of State of the European Union, Fernando Sampedro, and the Spanish ambassador in Belgrade, Juan José Sanz, have maintained contacts with both Ambassador Šarac and the Serbian government.
They also pointed out that the Deputy Minister for Bilateral Cooperation of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tamara Rastovac, and the ambassador herself have thanked Spain for “its availability and rapid reaction” to what happened.
