Press

HRH CROWN PRINCE ALEXANDER's

"NASA REC" interview

(17 April 1997)

You are a witness and a participant in our efforts here to change the country's political system. We have not, however, gone very far, and the ruling team in the meantime has got used to the ways of dictatorship. Could you say that current developments and demands for reform are, at long last, something serious? Looking from the outside, what is in favour of this view?

HRH Crown Prince Alexander: Yes, I would agree that current developments and demands for reform are "at long last, something serious". At least, I hope so. There are many things that support this hope, first of all the fact that people are now free of fear. After more than half a century of communist rule which was founded first on terror, and then on ideological violence and "strong arm" policy, people have finally got rid of fear and have started to laugh at the regime. This is a huge psychological turning point of tremendous significance for the countryÕs future political development.

The second major achievement is the destruction of the myth that the regime is all-powerful. Forced, first, to tolerate the demonstrations and then to make concessions, the regime has shown that it is no longer what it used to be at the time when it would send tanks into the streets against the people. Everybody has realised both those in power and those in opposition, that the regime is vulnerable and that its fall cannot be ruled out. And the third factor: this time the democratic West was not indifferent and gave some support to the pro-democracy movement, and it is hoped that it will continue to put pressure on the regime to ensure greater democratic freedom. All in all, if we take just these three basic facts into account, we see at once that something very serious is happening and that we have a chance to free ourselves of this anachronistic regime.

From the very beginning, you have given your support to the citizens' and students' protests and told them you would use your connections abroad to help their protest succeed. What have you undertaken and what has been your experience from the contacts with those at the top of the American and European administrations?

HRH Crown Prince Alexander: My main experience is that we got to rely primarily on our own forces. We must, naturally, continue to seek support from the democratic world, but no one will bring us democracy on a platter. It is up to us to fight for it and eventually to win that fight. We expect to be helped by the democratic countries, but this fight is ours, not theirs. All countries, big powers especially, put their own interests first, and their interest is stability in our area. This is why I tirelessly try to persuade them that there will be no stability until democracy is established in Serbia and Montenegro. The present regime is an element of instability, even one of its cause, and democratic countries must finally realise that. I do believe that they are now more inclined to accept this view than they were before November last year. The most important thing in all this is that the pro-democracy movement in our country shows it is capable of providing an effective alternative to the present regime.

How can one successfully continue to exercise pressure on the Slobodan Milosevic regime from the outside? What are, in your opinion, its weakest points? HRH Crown Prince Alexander: You know, it is much more important to "pressurise" the regime from the inside than from the outside, as I already indicated in my earlier reply. The battle for democracy in Serbia and Montenegro will be won or lost in Belgrade and at Cetinje, not in Washington, London or Paris. The West, I believe will give some support to the pro-democracy movement but our future depends primarily on ourselves. The English say that "each people has the government it deserves". Without going into the validity of this theory, I believe its moral is that a people, dissatisfied with its government, must do everything in its power to change it. Have we Serbs really done this?

You ask what are the regime's weakest points? It is difficult to know where to start, but I do think that its chef weakness is that it has become an anachronism both at home and abroad. It has been left totally behind and it is a real miracle that it has lasted so far. The regime is ballast that prevents the creative energy of the Serbian people to be released so that it can get the country ready to enter the 21^st century. It has shown its total inability to resolve any of the country's acute problems: political, social, economic, not to mention national. Because of this regime's wrong policy, to put it mildly, hundred of thousands of Serbs have been forced to leave their ancestral homes, and the Serb nation has suffered defeats unprecedented in its recent history. And the regime still refuses to account to the people for its management of our ship of state and to accept responsibility for the tragedy that has befallen us. Can you think of any other modern state toady in which a thing like that would be possible? The regime is an anachronism in the world too, since it represents a miserable continuation and remnant of the system whose downfall was heralded by the pulling down of the Berlin Wall. The sooner it comes to an end, the better it will be for all the citizens of federal Yugoslavia and all Serbs throughout the world.

As a guest of a programme of the American TV network CNN, you said your return to the country would be premature. When will be the right time, and what are all the things that should precede it? HRH Crown Prince Alexander: It is necessary to differentiate here between permanent return and occasional trips to the homeland. If my temporary presence there can be of use to the cause of democracy, I am ready to go there when it is necessary and desirable. But I would like to stress that at the present moment I do not want to do anything that might harm the unity of the pro-democracy movement which includes many people who are not monarchists. In other words, I refuse to do anything that might, however unintentionally, cause divisions within the democratic opposition since its unity is the indispensable prerequisite for success. On the other hand, I do hope that all democrats in opposition will realise that the Crown can become an important factor in the establishment of democracy in Serbia and Montenegro.

When permanent return is involved, as I said in the CNN interview, what is needed is for the democrats to come to the fore and for those responsible for wars in the ex-Yugoslavia to make themselves a scarce. There are also other reasons why this problem is not so simple. Despite my ardent desire to go back, the fact is that the great historical injustice that has been done to my family and me after the Second World War has not been put right until this very day. We have been deprived of our nationality and property and banned from returning to the country as worst criminals. These were illegal acts of the communist dictatorship of that time, but during the last few years since the monarchy stopped being a taboo theme, there have not been all that many serious moves all honour to the exceptions to revoke these acts.

It is also necessary to put right the historical injustice done to those who remained loyal to King & Country since 1941. How is it possible to heal the wounds and overcome the divisions from our unfortunate civil war at that period without first removing that injustice? How is it possible to talk about national reconciliation without it?

Not a single post-communist country has become a monarchy. What are Serbia's chances of becoming one, bearing in mind the fact that of the parties which are bearers of reform (within the "Zajedno" coalition), only the SPO is reliable a monarchist party? Crown Prince Alexander: I welcome the fact that SPC favours the restoration of the monarchy and I hope that as the time goes by a majority of democratic parties will realise the advantages of constitutional monarchy and of the role it could play even in the transition period from totalitarianism to democracy. In this respect, there is the example of King Juan Carlos of Spain. The SPO has realised long ago that the monarchy is the best solution, as have many minor parties and groups. This is certainly commendable but the fact remains that there is a huge number of monarchists who are not affiliated to any political party: there are also people who are not convinced monarchists but who believe that constitutional monarchy would now be the best solution for Serbia and Montenegro. The Crown has to take into account all that. No political party has a monopoly on the Crown; it belongs to the entire Serbian nation.

There is no reason why Serbia should not be the first European post-communist country to restore the monarchy if our politicians show wisdom and if they want sincerely to put the interest of the people above everything else. Today there are strong monarchist trends even in those East European countries whose dynasties are of foreign origin, so it would not be a miracle if the monarchy is restored first in Serbia since our monarchy sprouted from the people and since the Karadjordjevic dynasty has been unbreakably linked with the Serbian nationÕs history for the past two centuries. Our monarchy will be restored when our people and political leaders realise that its restoration would represent a majestic symbol of the final break with communist past, a pledge of a better and brighter future and the best framework for the further development of our country.

There is an argument that goes as follows: since Milosevic has been already given royal powers we should not interfere with that when it comes to the transfer of power (from the presidential system to the monarchy); the only thing that remains to be done then is to bring home the King. Would you need MilosevicÕs powers for your rule. At home there are still many doubts about the possibility of constitutional monarchy in the further democratisation of society? What would Serbia gain from the monarchy after 50 years of communism, and what you and your family are offering in all this?

HRH Crown Prince Alexander: I do not need wide powers enjoyed by the current President of Serbia. I am not inclined in the least to dictatorship and to the authoritarian style of rule. I am a great supporter of democracy and constitutional monarchy under which the Constitution clearly defines the jurisdiction of the state and its institutions, including the monarchy. I am not interested in power but in serving the people.

I am convinced that democracy could be most easily established and maintained if our country becomes a kingdom again, but it is not really up to me to speak about the advantages of the monarchy. As head of the royal house of the Karadjordjevices, would you expect me to have some other opinion? It is the experts on the state system, historians, political theoreticians and others who should speak on this subject. On my part, I can say I am prepared to serve my people in the same way as my ancestors have done. Despite certain mistakes they have justified the confidence placed into them by the people. The Karadjordjevic pedigree is surely better than the pedigree of communist potentates who ruled Serbia and Montenegro since 1944.

The issue of privatisation is in the first ranks of the democratic transformation of society. It will, of course, include also denationalisation, which means the return of your family property. Will the first night you spend at Beli Dvor on Dedinje finally signify that Serbia has again found herself, and that her private owners are at long last, safe? HRH Crown Prince Alexander: The issue of privatisation is a very delicate and we should not hurry with it until democracy as a system has taken firm hold in our country. It is known that in East European privatisation it was more important who was in charge of privatisation than how they were carried out. Surely, it cannot be in the interest of the people if the beneficiaries of privatisation are the top echelons of the old administration and their allies. We do not need such privatisation and, therefore, we got to be very careful.

As regards the return of the Karadjordjevic property, you know, in all democratic countries with the rule of law the right to private property is respected, and the same, I am convinced, will happen in our country. However, the issue of the property which has been illegally taken away from my family is of relatively secondary importance in comparison with what has been seized in the early post-war period from well to do people, including "domacin" peasants. The question of the return of my property appears of even less importance when one takes into account the terrible poverty in which great many people in our country live today. It would be shameful if I insisted today on the return of property while many people are having such a hard time to make ends meet. The regime has reduced people to beggars and our first task is to rescue the country from the economic catastrophe that threatens. After that, we shall turn out attention to various injustices.

To say that my first night at Beli Dvor on Dedinje could signify that "Serbia has again found herself", sounds to me with all due respect - quite absurd. Serbia will find herself when it finds again her soul, when honesty and honour again become basic values to the Serbs and when they return to the principles of "cojstvo & junastvo" /humanity & gallantry/,

You recently had the opportunity of meeting the leaders of the "Zajedno" coalition during their official visit to London. What impressions did you take from the meeting, and will any concrete moves follow as a result? HRH Crown Prince Alexander: Yes, the meeting with the "Zajedno" coalition leaders in London was very pleasant, and I hope, useful. I told them I admire their fight for democracy, the freedom of the media, human rights, respect of ethnic origins and religion. We also talked concretely about what sort of assistance is needed by Belgrade, especially as regards city transport and the media. All in all, I was very encouraged by our talks since I saw once again that they are serious persons who want good for their people. I hope some concrete moves will follow as a result but that does not depend primarily on me.

What sort of message would you like to send at this moment to the citizens of Serbia, and what message to the Serbs in the Diaspora?

HRH Crown Prince Alexander: I would like to appeal to the citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, to the Serbs outside the borders of Federal Yugoslavia and those in the Diaspora, to keep their spirits up. We have lost many battles under the present regime, especially those for democracy, human rights and the preservation of national unity, but not all is lost yet. Fighters for democracy, especially our youth, are showing us the way the way of a democratic rebirth that must encompass all spheres of national life. Politics, by itself, cannot resolve all problems but it can create conditions for a spiritual flowering of the people and for all the good that this would bring in the national, social and economic sectors, let us then get on with the job properly. There is no room for faintheartedness and doubt. Selfless action and sacrifice are our duty. And if God gives us wisdom, our action will be crowned with success.