A leader of the conference in North Macedonia where Alex Salmond spent his last few days said the forum is “in a state of shock” over his death as he described the sudden collapse of the former First Minister.

Mark Donfried, director of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, told the PA news agency on Sunday of running to get an ambulance for Mr Salmond.

The former First Minister was later pronounced dead after a suspected heart attack. He was 69.

“He was here the last few days, he gave excellent participation two days ago at the panel discussion," said Mr Donfried.

“He was really in the best of spirits, the best of health, and I was sitting across from him at lunch yesterday when all of a sudden he just went out and fell into the arms of a colleague of mine on the other side of the table. I immediately got up and ran to call an ambulance and when I came back, he was on the floor.”

(Image: Academy for Cultural Diplomacy) Mr Donfried added: “We’re all completely shocked – the entire hotel, the conference, it’s been very difficult for all of us.

“He was a great man who we all looked up to and so we’re still all in a state of shock.

“Last night, we had a brief moment of reflection on his legacy. There was a humility with Alex, he had an authenticity, it was amazing to see how he’d touched individuals he had only known for a few days.”

He later told Times Radio on Sunday night that Mr Salmond "fell back in his chair, totally out of the blue without warning.”

He said the former First Minister collapsed as he was helping his colleague Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh open a sauce container.

Mr Donfried added Mr Salmond "immediately" became unconscious.

"We don’t think Alex suffered any pain,” he said. 

Mr Donfried went onto to say when the paramedics arrived Mr Salmond still had a pulse and was breathing and they tried “everything they possibly could for a good 30 minutes”.

READ MORE:

According to reports Mr Salmond had earlier been complaining about pains in his leg at the meeting in the historic lakeside city of Ohrid. 

In a statement issued through North Macedonia’s interior ministry, police said that prosecutors had ordered a post-mortem examination.

Meanwhile, close allies continued to reflected on his loss and legacy.

Former SNP MP and senior lawyer Joanna Cherry told the BBC that Mr  Salmond will be "completely vindicated" noted a court case launched by him will continue after his death.

At the time of his death Mr Salmond was pursuing a number of actions through the courts and Police Scotland in the aftermath of his acquittal at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2020 of charges of sexual assault and in relation to a flawed Scottish Government investigation into complaints made against him. 

READ MORE: 

"Alex has an outstanding civil action and there are outstanding criminal investigations which we can't say very much about. I think it's a terrible tragedy that Alex has died before he was able to be completely vindicated, but I believe that time will vindicate his name," said Ms Cherry who last week announced her return to her career as an advocate.

Alba Party deputy leader Kenny MacAskill has described Alex Salmond’s death as “a loss for the nation of Scotland”.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr MacAskill said: “His lifetime has delivered so much. His political record as unsurpassed, I think, in Scottish politics, not simply in his generation, but going back many generations. This is a man who took a small party, persuaded me and others to join it, when Scotland was to some extent, and certainly the nationalist community, on his knees.

“There was no Scottish Parliament. There seemed no likelihood of there one coming, and independence was viewed as a fanciful dream. This is a man who got us to a situation where we have a Holyrood parliament. We came within a whisker of independence in a referendum. And where independence now polls regularly not far off 50%. That is the legacy of Alex Salmond, that one man delivered so much more.”

Asked about how Mr Salmond was affected by the lack of electoral success of the Alba party, which he set up in 2021, Mr MacAskill said: “When I was last meeting with him, and it wasn’t that long ago, very, very recently, things were coming together for Alex, and indeed, things are looking far more propitious for the Alba party.

“Alex was chirpy and cheery. He was always a cheery chap in many ways, certainly gave that public perception, even when privately there were issues challenging. But as I say, I think Alex had already founded the modern SNP, taking it to success, and he was embarking on doing it yet again in a different political party.”

He added that it was too soon to think about what Mr Salmond’s death means for the Alba party, saying: “At the present moment, this is a time to grieve. It’s the time to reflect on Alex’s legacy. But I think all of us who are in the Alba party share Alex’s comments that the dream shall never die.”