Thursday’s attack on the U.S. embassy in Belgrade determined the American authorities to begin evacuating all nonessential personnel, a spokesman for the embassy told CNN Friday.

However, the U.S. ambassador, Cameron Munter, will not leave.

The embassy was closed today and a pack of riot police stood outside the wrecked building. The embassy will be closed until Monday so officials can assess the damage, according to Bill Wanlund, U.S. embassy spokesman.

The U.S. authorities have already warned the Belgrade government that the safety of all the embassies is its responsibility.

When asked whether the Serbian authorities would “get” the message, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns said:

"They'd better get it, because they have a fundamental responsibility to protect our diplomats and our embassy and to protect American citizens. What happened yesterday in Belgrade was absolutely reprehensible."

Washington as well as the UN Security Council strongly condemned the incident that took place in Belgrade, which local authorities blamed on "isolated vandals."
Burns criticized the lack of security people guarding the U.S. Embassy. He also said the small number of security people “melted away” when the mob attacked the embassy.

"This kind of thing should not happen in a civilized country. It doesn't happen in the United States of America. It doesn't happen in most world capitals. So the Serb government needs to reflect seriously about the responsibility it has under the Vienna Convention," he said.

Burns also urged on Friday Russia to repudiate a assertion made by one of its top officials that Moscow may use its military might to earn respect after Western governments recognized Kosovo, The Associated Press reported.

The comments were made by Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin. Burns labeled them as "highly irresponsible" and also criticized Moscow’s strong language condemning the recognition of Kosovo's independence by the United States and some European countries.