In a live television address held earlier today, President Ivan Tattar has announced Nado Milutinovic, the former Eastern People’s Republic leader and co-signatory of the Union Agreement, has died aged 97.
President Tattar spoke for around five minutes at 10pm on Sunday evening, paying tribute to the former eastern president who had been in a coma since suffering a major stroke last Saturday. The president announced that two medical teams were unable to wake Mr Milutinovic who remained unconscious – pronouncing his death at 4pm yesterday afternoon. Tattar said that Milutinovic had died “surrounded by his family in dignity, having struggled for and lived a full life of peace”. He went on to say that losing Mr Milutinovic would be “like losing a parent” for the country, and that in a mark of respect he was suspending the business of the Federal Executive and the Polascianan stock market until Friday morning.
The president also said that state officials were now working closely with Mr Milutinovic’s family – including his daughter Daria, who succeeds him and his estate – to plan arrangements for the former leader’s funeral which is expected to be held within the next two weeks. Thousands of people have also already gathered at sites in major cities across the country to lay wreaths, flowers and messages, as tributes have been made by domestic and continental leaders.
The president is expected to take calls from more foreign leaders over the next 24 hours and has pledged to visit citizens mourning across the nation in the next few days.
