Belgrade, 20th July: The Crown Committee and the Crown Council today called for the resignations of FRY [Federal Republic of Yugoslavia] President Slobodan Milosevic and the governments of Serbia and the FRY "to save the country and the people" .

In the statement, delivered to the Beta agency, the Crown Committee and Crown Council accuses Milosevic of pursing "a catastrophic national and state policy" and assesses that the "easiest and the fairest way out of the chaos created by the illegitimate authorities would be to restore the monarchy embodied in the historic Karadjordjevic dynasty as the guarantor of constitutionality and democracy" .

"The Serbian nation can no longer bear and no longer deserves to carry the burden of moral responsibility for the crimes that have been committed and are still being committed in its name without its knowledge or approval. This is no longer about the standing and reputation of the Serbian people and their state in the civilized world, but about their survival," the Crown Committee and the Crown Council points out.

They accused the authorities of "leaving Kosovo-Metohija shamelessly, after the catastrophe, for which they bear the biggest responsibility, abandoning the innocent people to further terrible suffering in this decade".

The Crown Committee and the Crown Council joins in the demands of Crown Prince Aleksandar and the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and also calls for Milosevic's removal. 

The statement was signed by members of the Crown Committee and Crown Council, which include Academicians Predrag Palavestra, Ivan Antic, Dragomir Vitorovic, Matija Beckovic and Milorad Pavic, writer Svetlana Velmar-Jankovic, retired Law School Professor Pavle Nikolic, Dragomir Acovic, and others.

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 0946 gmt 20 Jul 99