| HRH Crown Prince Alexander
(in London) Interview with
Friday 16 April, 1999
(Introduction and preamble) Clinton: Mr Milosevic can stop NATO’s bombing by meeting these conditions: 1) Serbian security forces must leave Kosovo.
Interviewer: Are there too many conditions for peace? Could Yugoslavia’s monarch in exile rally enough support to form a new post-War government? This is Q&A, your chance to ask key players in world events the questions that most intrigue you. We have Yugoslavia’s Crown Prince Alexander with us – he has some ideas for a new Yugoslavia. Let me welcome Crown Prince Alexander. Sir, let’s begin with the not so simple question, what path have you been pursuing for a resolution to the war and what success, if any, have you achieved? Prince Alexander: I have been calling for an end to the strikes because imagine if you are in Yugoslavia, Serbian population or Montenegrin population. That you are faced with nineteen democracies. Members of the NATO alliance, who one aspired to be like a democracy, like them, and you are being bombed by them. And what’s more your leader has misled you for close to ten years now. And the West has sent one Foreign Minister and one Foreign Secretary after another to Belgrade to visit him. And the result is sanctions, poverty. Before the bombing sixty percent unemployment, nothing much to look forward to. And now the misery of bombs and the horror taking place in Kosovo, the ethnic cleansing. An absolute disaster. Interviewer: Well of course we have many, many questions for you Sir and I’m going to put the first caller on the line from Scotland. Chris what would you like to ask? Chris: Hello Crown Prince Alexander. Basically I think for all of us in Europe it’s almost impossible for us to actually believe that this is happening at the end of the Twentieth Century. Now based on what you said previously why is this the ethnic Albanians who are actually fairly innocent people just like the rest of us living innocent lives, is it just because Milosevic wants, is it just a basically a question of just Milosevic – can you explain exactly what the animosity is about. Interviewer: Okay, we’ll let the Crown Prince answer. Prince Alexander: After the collapse of Moscow and the Berlin Wall, the communist leaders of Yugoslavia had another agenda to remain in power. That was to use negative religion and negative nationalism. Now there were many players in this end and this resulted in the wars of succession and civil war in the former Yugoslavia. The basis is to control all areas of society by playing and creating political parties. And running the media and the last elements are now taking place down in the southern part of the former Yugoslavia – there are still many areas that haven’t been resolved, but imagine being bombarded by a propaganda machine every day. And all sorts of hatred being plummeted up and you see there has also been massive ethnic cleansing that has taken place - six hundred thousand Serbs were ethnically cleansed from Krajina, which was a total disaster and the rest of Croatia. And the Muslims have been cleansed and the Catholics Croats have been cleansed and today we still have a disaster taking place owing to the use of negative religion and negative nationalism. Interviewer: The question in our Internet chat room where people are talking about this subject – a very busy place at the moment on the on the Internet – it says are you planning some humanitarian action for the refugees in Macedonia and Albania? Prince Alexander: Oh absolutely. In fact my wife and I have been spending the day trying to see how we can help everybody. You see there is there is no borders in suffering everybody is God’s child. Everybody must be helped and the suffering as we noticed is quite dramatic – over eight hundred thousand refugees – but also we must not forget the suffering that is taking place in Serbia and Montenegro. There have been some disasters and there are children there too who need help, people and old people, so this whole thing is a disaster – it is an aggression from the skies and a problem taking place on the ground also. Interviewer: What do you believe to be the strategy of the Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, Sir? Prince Alexander: Power, quite simply power. There are ten million inhabitants in Montenegro and Serbia. And the power base is in the hands of close to three hundred thousand people, which includes the Ministry of the Interior, and it is a well tuned and oiled machine with a seven-billion-dollar budget per year. And the people’s army or the Yugoslav Army only have a one-billion-dollar budget. So it’s really the continuation of power and also the domination of everything. Recently we lost an editor who was the editor of the Daily Telegraph (Dnevi Telegraf). Who was assassinated just because he believed in fighting Mr Milosevic in a democratic way through his newspaper, but he was also against the air strikes. I think this is not on. Interviewer: Let me ask you a question about how much information the Serbian people have about what’s going on because we get reports largely where media is restricted, they don’t really have a clue what’s going on. What do you know about that, Sir? Prince Alexander: Well I think there has always been a serious situation with the media in such dictatorial situations. The media is state controlled and even more so now, because the remnants of the independent media and the democratic opposition have been really put in a difficult position. B92 which is a radio station in Belgrade was closed down illegally of course. So the people are really subject to the state-run machine, which in fact is reflecting very much the rhetoric of the communist era of the 1960’s and they are using other people to portray themselves and to confuse the people and to confuse the rest. The trouble is everybody is suffering under the rain of the bombs. Interviewer: A caller on the line from London who is primed with a question. Go ahead. Caller: Yes, greetings Your Highness. Shouldn’t you now impress, can I underline the word impress, on NATO to remove Milosevic absolutely and the other criminals like Arkan and if possible to put you in his place as the leader of Yugoslavia and I’m sure the Yugoslav public would love to have you just as some of you would like to Russian monarchy returned.. and the respect.. Interviewer: Let’s ask Crown Prince Alexander what you think of that. Prince Alexander: My objective has always been to crown democracy and to respect all religions, all ethnic groups, and to bring economic revival. It is very difficult to bring this when in fact the West has not been very helpful to this process. Ten years ago, I had already started on this plan and I had met many of the democratic leaders of the former Yugoslavia and particularly of Serbia and Montenegro. It has been extremely difficult when in fact the West has used Mr Milosevic and his regime to enforce some peace plan or another and forgot about democracy. If there had been democracy in Belgrade I would venture to say that we would not have had this problem and everybody would have had a chance to be heard and Kosovo Albanians would have been able to speak their language and get on with religion and so on. No I think there is good point about monarchy, monarchy is above politics, provides a unity and the continuity and a meeting point. The similarity is of course King Juan Carlos of Spain where there is a fully fledged democracy there now and a member of the European Union. Interviewer: We’re going to pause there briefly so don’t go away. We’ll get your questions again when Q&A returns after the break. (Commercial break followed by preamble) The Clinton administration is putting together an emergency budget to pay the US share of NATO operations. Figures range from between four billion to eight billion dollars. Interviewer: We are reviewing the possibilities for peace in Yugoslavia. We are talking to Crown Prince Alexander in London, he’s the Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia. A question that came by e-mail, Lilian Alexakou from Athens/Hellas, says “Is the Crown Prince interested in a successful return to democracy and how would he deal with Serbia’s damage?” Prince Alexander: It is very important to have democracy and we must work for this objective. The bombing must stop and the process of healing must start. And there must not be another lease of life for Mr Milosevic. People must learn to work together and we must bring in the democrats. (Note: satellite echo in Prince Alexander’s ear) President Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, President Djindic the president of the Democratic Party, the president of the Serbian Democratic Party Mr Kostunica, Serbian Democrats, Mr Rugova. And other Albanian (Kosovo) moderates and also the Churches. The Orthodox Church, the Muslims, the Roman Catholics and the Jews. Now I think this is very important that we do that. Now, regarding damages I would venture to say that NATO bears a heavy responsibility for the damages caused. I would count on the good will of having a new Marshal Plan coming into the end of this century. And into the next century, which would be a Marshal Plan of aid for reconstruction and economy, and also for the process of democracy. We just heard about a budget of four billion to eight billion dollars; we need some of that to build a foundation of democracy, and bring jobs and a better future to all citizens regardless of race, ethnic background or religion. Interviewer: An e-mail question that follows up from Yugoslavia from Novi Sad says “Does the Crown Prince really believe that the Serbian people would like to see him on the throne?” Prince Alexander: Who else do they have? I mean they’ve had one disaster after another. Did they like the last ten years? Sixty- percent unemployment, isolation, sanctions – it is about time they had something good and I can give it. Interviewer: Miroslav is in South Africa has got a question for you now Sir. Miroslav. Miroslav: Good evening. I would like to address the comment basically about the information that Crown Prince Alexander says people in Yugoslavia are not informed Basically that people in Yugoslavia are watching only domestic media. I want to actually tell Mr Alexander that our people have satellite over the years. Satellite access to CNN, BBC, SKY News and that Serbian people actually very carefully watch all sources of information. Interviewer: Sir would you agree with that? Prince Alexander: Ten million people of Serbia and Montenegro do not speak English. He is absolutely right Miroslav that there are satellite dishes, in the region of forty to sixty thousand dishes, they are a luxury, they’re expensive, they’re important and certainly people pass the information around. But there’s nothing like having a domestic media that is free and democratic and open to access to the people to have debate like any democracy. Interviewer: In our Internet chat room it says does the Prince think it is likely that Russia would break the arms embargo to help Serbia for less than this. Prince Alexander: I think it’s very important to take into account that Russia is indeed a great country and a dear friend of the Serbs and that is very much appreciated. But indeed Russia also has its economic problems and Russia is way ahead democratically than my country. In fact you have a great deal of choice of media in Russia and a great deal of choice of newspapers as one might say. I think we have a long way to catch up. Of course once we have these luxuries, I think that we can all get on very well and we can become a great trading partner with Russia in peace and not fire up the hatred of any ethnic group. Also we must not forget there are ethnic groups near us, in the Romanias and the Hungary’s and we want everybody to remain calm and to decide their future in a peaceful way through the ballot box. Interviewer: Sir you said that who else do the Yugoslav people have it’s looking for leadership. Let me ask you what is this conflict doing in terms of building loyalty for President Slobodan Milosevic and his nationalistic rhetoric? Prince Alexander: Well there is no doubt that when a people get bombed it’s rather like the Blitz here in London in the United Kingdom people tend to rally together, it’s the most natural thing. You have an enemy coming from the skies and this is extremely painful for the Serbian and Montenegrin people. And this of course has brought a favour to Mr Milosevic. But I assure you it is not long lived because the hard business of mending the wounds. And getting on with the task of bringing democracy and reconstruction so one can make a better future for this generation and future generations is a big task and it has to be done. Interviewer: London again on the telephone this time. We lost that caller. Let me ask you about your view on the fact Sir that the this seems to have turned out to be a NATO mission rather than a United Nations one, what do you think that is doing to the credibility of the mission? Prince Alexander: Well this is a very important factor you have brought up. NATO was designed really as a defensive organization not as an offensive organization. In this case there was no authorization from the United Nations to go ahead with such a disastrous venture. I think that it’s very important that the United Nations be put back in its rightful place and that we be very careful in any future operations. Of course it’s very delicate and we don’t want to upset any of the members of the UN. Interviewer: We are going to pause again briefly here Sir so don’t go away. More questions and some final thoughts after the break. (Commercial break followed by preamble) NATO estimates it will cost thirteen billion dollars to restore the infrastructure destroyed in just the first three weeks of the war. Interviewer: With only a few minutes remaining we are talking with Crown Prince Alexander, Yugoslavia’s Monarch in exile. A question from our Internet chat room again here Sir. If the Royal Family has been exiled since the start of communism fifty years ago would the Royal Family be irrelevant in Serbia – I guess a question of re-educating the Yugoslav people to accept you? Prince Alexander: It’s not irrelevant at all, because my family, that’s my wife and I and three children all went to Yugoslavia, that is to Serbia, in 1991. And we were received by over 500,000 people, that’s like half of London turning out. It was very emotional and of course, I went back the next year in 1992 and visited much more of Serbia at the time. And I was extremely well received by hundreds of thousands of people. I always spoke of democratic reform and human rights and of course economic revival, but this was not on the agenda of the regime. Interviewer: Now what I was going to ask was what was your reception like from President Slobodan Milosevic, how is your relationship with him? Prince Alexander: I have never met him. Interviewer: Never had any contact, never had any reason to discuss ……. Prince Alexander: No contact. Interviewer: Let me ask you, Sir, about the fears the international community has about how this conflict may just spread even wider. This was warned a few years ago when Bosnia was at its peak in conflict and people said it would spread wider. How much further could this spread? Prince Alexander: I think many people are deeply worried about it spreading and also the tremendous burden of refugees, these very unfortunate people who are being ethnically cleansed providing a burden on countries that are very poor. There is Macedonia, there is a poor country that needs economic development there, there is Albania that’s poor and of course these can be flaming points and incursions that go across borders. There is a danger so I think that we have to have peace as soon as possible, in fact today. Interviewer: Elizabeth in London what would you like to ask? Elizabeth: Yes, His Royal Highness, since you’ve lived here most of your life in exile and you’ve never actually had any personal involvement and experience with the Albanian minority and since I lived in Macedonia I witnessed a lot of hideous crimes. …..My question is if these people win how likely is it that the conflict is going to spread in Macedonia because they all know I mean since ……. Interviewer: We don’t have much time Elizabeth so we’ll ask Crown Prince Alexander to answer that. Prince Alexander: Well this is the whole point of democracy. If democracy had been seeded throughout the former Yugoslavia right at the beginning stages, of course there are some parts which are more advanced than the others. I think there would have been no problem and there would have been an economic revival with aid. I mean we’re talking about billions of dollars earlier on in reconstruction. I think it is very important that the European Union get its resources together, jack up the resources with the United States and other countries, and get it going so we can help everyone and I mean everyone to get on with their lives. To cool down the hatred and stop the rhetoric. Stop the machinery to get on and stop demonizing people and the Western media stop demonizing the Serbs. As the President said, President Clinton, the Serbian community is a democratic community and everybody must get on with each other. Like here in London, London is a great cosmopolitan city, so is Paris. I think we all need each other and we have to get on with the task of democracy. Interviewer: Now Ibrahim Rugova is a name that has come up a lot. Much hope is pinned on perhaps his view on how the situation could be resolved. How could deal with someone like Ibraham Rugova? Do you feel he is someone you could work with? Prince Alexander: I think that Mr Rugova is a very important gentleman. The tragedy is that the regime in Belgrade very much ignored him because he was not on the agenda and if Mr Rugova had been negotiated with and the regime had not existed and there had been democracy I think everything would have been much cooler and there would have been a settlement. You see Kosovo is very important to the Serbs too, it is a cradle of Serbian heritage, it is in the hearts of the Serbs, and to be able to retain it you have to recognize who is living on the territory and they must be allowed a say democratically and there are Serbs living in Kosovo who are must also must be allowed a say. The gun cannot rule or be put to people’s heads. I think this is where the disaster is that we have to have disarmament and rule by democracy. Interviewer: Now if it came to you having a clear role in determining Yugoslavia’s rule Sir, would you be willing to have a NATO or like force on your soil over-seeing things? Prince Alexander: I think the issue is to have no force on one’s own sovereign soil. The issue is that we should have been able to get on with each other, but again here I think the United Nations is a very important factor. We want to have peace, there can be no ethnic cleansing, people have to return home. It is rather difficult now because many of the homes have been destroyed. I think what we need is an incredible humanitarian aid and the retirement of all terrorist elements on all sides, that includes the KLA to put down their arms, the terrorism which is sanctioned by the state put down your arms and put people first and get on with re-building everybody’s lives and making a future for future generations. Interviewer: Well Crown Prince Alexander, an honour to have you with us on the show. We’ve run out of time but thank you for taking questions from around the World. Prince Alexander: Thank you very much. |
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