Ambassador Irena Šarac had been walking along the city’s Príncipe de Vergara street close to the Serbian embassy when she was approached by the man who witnesses say was Albanian.
After asking her where she was from, he reportedly kicked the ambassador in the back before running off.
A passerby told local media: “The attacker heard her talking on the phone and asked her if she was Serbian.
“When she replied yes, he kicked her in the back and ran away.
“He had an Albanian accent.”
According to Serbian news agency Tanjug, several witnesses tried to catch the attacker but with no success.
Police launched a series of raids throughout the neighborhood but also failed to catch the man.
Posting on X, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Đurić said: “I strongly condemn the physical attack on Ambassador Šarac in the center of Madrid.
“We demand from all authorities a full investigation and responsibility for this outrageous incident and an act of violence against the highest diplomatic representative of our country.”
Relations between Serbia and Albania have been tense for years. In 2008, Kosovo, which has a majority Albanian population, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, which the Belgrade government doesn’t accept to this day.
