BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Miroslav Lazanski, Serbia’s ambassador to Russia and formerly a well-known journalist, has died. He was 71.

Serbian media and officials said Wednesday that Lazanski died at his home in Belgrade from “the consequences of a heart attack.”

Before turning to politics in 2016 when he was elected to parliament as a lawmaker of the right-wing ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Lazanski was a journalist, war reporter and a military commentator who worked for several major media outlets both in Croatia and Serbia.

Known for his pro-Russian stance, he was named Serbia’s ambassador in Moscow in 2019.

He was a close ally of Serbia’s autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic, who sent his condolences to Lazanski’s family on Wednesday, saying “Serbia lost a great man.”

Vucic described Lazanski as “one of the best experts in global politics, military strategy, an exceptional journalist, but most of all a good person.”

The funeral date was not announced.

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Corrects the year when Lazanski was named ambassador.