Military

DATE=03/13/03

TYPE=NORTH AMERICAN OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=SERBIAN P-M

NUMBER=6-12861

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

INTRO: The assassination of Serbia's pro-democracy prime minister is producing outraged editorials in North American dailies. We get an early sampling now from V-O-A's ___________ in today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: American newspapers are hailing Zoran Djindjic as a reformist leader. The prime minister was shot and killed Tuesday on the way to his office in Belgrade.

The New York Times hails Mr. Djinjic as a leader trying to propel Serbia into modern Europe.

VOICE: In countries that lack institutions, individuals matter greatly. Slobodan Milosevic dragged Yugoslavia - - now called Serbia and Montenegro - - back to medieval times. Zoran Djindjic . tried to propel it into modern Europe.

There are other reform-minded politicians in Serbia, but no one with Mr. Djindjic's shrewdness and force of vision. The power vacuum left by his death is more likely to be filled by the thugs associated with Mr. Milosevic, who are still powerful in the military, paramilitaries and secret police. If this happens, it is likely that Serbia's union with Montenegro will fail, and that country will once again become a destabilizing force in the Balkans.

TEXT: In the Midwest, the Milwaukee [Wisconsin] Journal Sentinel tries to put the killing in perspective.

VOICE: [Prime Minister] Djindjic's assassination proves that [Serbia's] . reconstruction is far from complete, which means the U-S and European commitment to Serbia's future has not yet been fulfilled. It also proves that nation-building is a dangerous, lengthy and uncertain business.

TEXT: New England's Boston Globe calls the killing: "a desolating illustration of the difficulty Serbs face in constructing a democratic political culture rooted in the rule of law." A shocked Wall Street Journal pays him this compliment.

VOICE: The list of enlightened world leaders is small enough that it is worth noting when one of them passes. That's especially true in the Balkans, where American troops. still serve, and where . Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated. . Whoever did the deed has done a disservice to his country.

TEXT: In its lead editorial, The Washington Post, calling the murder "shocking" and "terrible," adds:

VOICE: Though his killers have not been identified, the Prime Minister's most dangerous enemies were widely known: war criminals and organized crime gangs linked to the old Milosevic regime.

TEXT: To Florida's West Coast, where The Tampa Tribune laments:

VOICE: The assassination . is a chilling development in an already turbulent world. The pro-Western reformer had helped overthrow ruthless dictator Slobodan Milosevic and was seeking to develop a democracy in a nation still recovering from the murderous brutality of ethnic cleansing.

.With war in Iraq imminent and with North Korea rattling its nuclear saber, Serbia now could be thrown into bloody chaos. [This] is a tragedy . and may. be a crisis of vast consequence.

TEXT: Straying for a moment into neighboring Canada, we read in the big Toronto [Ontario] Globe And Mail, this reaction to the killing.

VOICE: The relative calm within the newly renamed state of Serbia and Montenegro ended in blood outside a government building in Belgrade yesterday. The assassination . plunged Serbia into an officially declared state of emergency and an unofficial state of shock and worry.

We hope the world sees this murder as more than just another in a line of troubles that have historically made the Balkans a powder keg. We hope its concern is for the country as it is today, for the reforms and constitutional rule taking shape, and the well being of its people.

TEXT: In Canada's capital, The Ottawa Citizen calls the killing:

VOICE: . a sad reminder of how much remains to be done to bring peace and democracy to many parts of the former Yugoslavia. . Bringing lasting peace to the Balkans was already difficult. Mr. Djindjic's death makes it even harder.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this editorial sampling of reaction to the killing of Serbia's Prime Minister.

NEB/ANG/MAR/KBK