STATEMENT of
H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER
Having consulted members of his Crown and Privy Councils, HRH Crown
Prince Alexander issued today the following statement on the situation
in Kosovo:
At this dramatic moment for the destiny and existence of the Serbian
nation, the Crown cannot and will not remain silent.
The time of readiness and openness for talks and negotiations is long
overdue. The time has not yet passed for firmness and determination
to persist in the fight for a democratic society, for the rule of law and
justice, for the defence of the fundamental rights of the Serbian people
and of other peoples who live together with them and who are creating a
common vision of a better future.
The problem of Kosovo and Metohija is not the problem of oppression
of one people by another, but it is the problem of a regime which ensures
its existence in Serbia and Yugoslavia by threatening the existence of
all others. Today’s dispute over Kosovo and Metohija is between the
ideological and political heirs of the Yugoslav and Albanian Communists
who in 1945 endorsed the ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the Kosovo – Metohija
region by banning these exiles from returning to their land they were forced
to leave from 1941 onwards. The decree ordering the ban is still
in force. Thus, the Serbs of Kosovo became the first post-war refugees
banned from returning home in their own country.
By delaying for years any serious discussion with the Albanians of Kosovo
and Metohija, using the Serbs in that region only as an object of political
manipulation, treating the Serbian national interest as a commodity, holding
up for ridicule the principles of democracy and the rule of law, the current
regime threatens the vital interests of all citizens of Serbia and all
the Serbs wherever they may live. By adopting an uncompromising attitude
today, the regime does not defend either Kosovo or Serbia, but only itself.
Being itself in exile, the Crown understands and feels for the misfortune
of the exiles and for the concerns and troubles of people whose civic and
national dignity has become a pawn in the game played by those who could
not care less about it. Neither the Serbs are the enemies of the
Albanians, nor the Albanians are the enemies of the Serbs. Terrorism
is the enemy of all of them, be it State terrorism or nationalist or chauvinist
terrorism.
The Crown condemns most strongly both the brutality of the regime’s
police and the killing of innocent civilians, as well as the terrorist
actions by Albanian extremists against the police and Kosovo Serbs.
Terror and brutality must give way to talks, to a dialogue between the
Serbs and the Albanians. Participants in the talks must include the
representatives of Kosovo Serbs, the natives of the region who are resolved
never to abandon their centuries-old homes. Likewise, it is important
not to overlook the problem of several thousands Serbs, the victims of
ethnic cleansing in Croatia, who had found refuge in Kosovo and whose existence
is now again being threatened. The international community should
not be indifferent to the fate of Kosovo Serbs in the way it was indifferent
to the forced exodus of several hundreds of thousands of Serbs from Krajina!
The key issue of Serbia’s and Montenegro’s existence – which is being
deliberately avoided today both within the country and by the international
community – is neither Kosovo and Metohija nor the plight of the Albanian
national minority, but the question of existence or non-existence of democratic
institutions, the existence of the rule of law and security of all citizens
within the framework of the Constitution and before Law. Today the
Serbs do not have an internationally recognised State, and a State that
is not recognised cannot protect anybody; especially, it cannot offer any
protection from those who negotiate with it without recognising it.
Such a State is a dead loss and the international factors treat its interests
as non-existent. The Serbs have today an arrogant regime and a humiliated
people. This regime is recognised by the international community
only when it has to give in or give up something. This is why the
regime is trusted only in relation to its readiness to trade the interests
of its own people.
The Kosovo problem threatens to cause a new armed conflict in the Balkans,
and it is our sacred duty to prevent that conflict. Under the present
regime, the Serbs have suffered one defeat after another, and if there
is a new war it is the Serbs who are going to be its chief victims.
Policy must be conducted wisely while the protection and defence of the
Serbian interests and of human rights of all citizens irrespective of their
ethnic origin, religious and political affiliation must be its motivation
and its aim.
Europe and the world should understand something which is clear to us:
Serbian culture and Serbian spirituality, which we have contributed to
the European and world cultural heritage, were born in Kosovo, had their
flowering in Kosovo, and must not disappear from Kosovo. For six
centuries now Kosovo has been the symbol of the Serbian nation and of its
destiny. Kosovo has been following us for six centuries both as a
warning and as a promise. Let us be resolute in the fight for our
rights while respecting the rights of others, and a just solution will
then be found. Let us fight for our country with wisdom and democracy.
The alternative is tyranny, decline and despair.
ALEXANDER
London, 12 March 1998
1997 HRHCP Aleksandar II
All Rights Reserved