HRH CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER’s
STATEMENT

STOP the BOMBING

I denounce in the strongest possible terms the aggression launched by
NATO against our country last night.   NATO states have attacked
a small sovereign country without an authorisation by the United Nations.  
Leaders of that military alliance assert that the aim of war operations
is to prevent a human catastrophe in Kosovo, yet it is quite possible,
unfortunately, that their action will make the situation in Kosovo worse,
provoke new conflicts in the Balkans and upset international relations
in Europe.    It is impossible to foresee all the consequences
of this action.

Enormous damage has been caused to Serbia and Montenegro, and the first
fatalities have occurred.  Since NATO operations are continuing, more
victims among the innocent civilian population are inevitable.  
Violence cannot be stopped by using even greater violence, and a solution
to the Kosovo problem can be found only through direct negotiations between
democratic representatives of the Serbs and Albanians.  It is absurd
for NATO to bomb Yugoslavia so that Kosovo can remain a part of Yugoslavia!  
It is also absurd for NATO to become an air force of the so-called Kosovo
Liberation Army!   NATO actions lead inevitably to Kosovo`s independence,
while NATO leaders claim that independence is not their aim!?

When in 1995 over a quarter of a million Serbs were driven from their
homes in Croatia, when their houses were burned and destroyed and many
civilians killed NATO leaders did not speak of a humanitarian catastrophe.  
The Serbs have been ethnically cleansed from Western Bosnia, but who cares.  
In Serbia there are now over 600,000 Serbian refugees, but NATO could not
care less about that.   And what were the steps that NATO undertook
in order to prevent that catastrophe?  Any ethnic cleansing should
be condemned and prevented.
 
I have always been a critic of the present regime in Belgrade since,
I believe, it works against Serbian interests, but the nature of that regime
should not be used as an excuse for NATO to wage a military campaign against
Yugoslavia.   The regime is one thing, the Serbian people another,
and NATO is making a big mistake by conducting military operations against
Yugoslavia.   Serbia, Montenegro and the whole of the Balkans
do not need bombs and killings, there had unfortunately been a surplus
of that in the history of the Balkans, but they need peace, freedom, justice
and democracy.   Tolerance and mutual understanding can flourish
only in conditions of peace, not war.   For this reason, I appeal
to all NATO states to stop immediately the bombing of Yugoslavia and I
call on all interested parties to find a solution to the current crisis
through negotiations.
 
 

ALEXANDER
25 March 1999

 

1997 HRHCP Aleksandar II
All Rights Reserved