Serbia on Tuesday commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the assassination of Zoran Đinđić, the country’s former prime minister, who was gunned down on March 12, 2003, at the steps of the Serbian government headquarters.
On that fateful day, at 12:23 p.m., Đinđić was shot and killed by a sniper. Hours earlier, he had shared a final conversation with his wife, Ružica Đinđić — a moment she recalls vividly.
A Love Story Born of Ideas
Zoran and Ružica met at the launch of his book “Yugoslavia as an Unfinished State,” where she represented the publishing house. Ružica, a law graduate from the University of Belgrade and originally from Valjevo, said their relationship blossomed quickly, leading to marriage and the birth of their two children, Jovana and Luka.
“After returning from his doctorate in Germany, Zoran was admired by many beautiful and intelligent women. Yet, he chose me — an unknown, someone no one had ever heard of,” Ružica told Vreme in 2006.
A Fatal Day
On the morning of March 12, 2003, Đinđić dressed sharply for a scheduled meeting with then-Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.
“He put on his finest suit. Forgetting about Lindh, I asked him if he had a press conference. ‘No,’ he said, ‘but I have Anna Lindh,'” Ružica recounted.
Around noon, she received the devastating call from his driver, informing her that shots had been fired.
“I assumed he hadn’t been hit, or if he had, that he would survive. But when the driver said, ‘Someone will come for you,’ I knew this time was different,” she later recalled.
A Legacy of Love and Loss
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Ružica described the assassination as not just a political killing, but an attack on a harmonious family and profound love.
“That shot wasn’t just aimed at Zoran. It struck at a great love and a united family,” she said.
In the aftermath, she felt abandoned. “We were left alone, the three of us. All those so-called friends scattered, rising in prominence while my grief grew. I had to explain to my children the significance of our loss.”
Today, 22 years later, memories endure, along with a love that remains eternal.