CROWN PRINCESS KATHERINE SENDS MESSAGE ON OCCASION OF WORLD REFUGEE DAY

Belgrade, 19 June 2008 - Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Katherine issued a message on the occasion of 20th June, World Refugee Day. In her letter to Mr. Lennart Kotsalainen, UNHCR representative in Serbia and to Mr. Dragisa Dabetic, the Commissioner for Refugess of Serbia, the Crown Princess expressed her appreciation for everything that UNHCR has done in Serbia in recent years.

"Serbia is a country with the greatest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe, and that fact alone puts tremendous burden on its fragile economy.

The problems of repatriation and integration, of refugee human rights, and especially of the children among them, need our constant attention and engagement.

Serbia has to find additional strength and inner resources to deal with those tremendous problems, and your organisation should remain its principal partner", concluded Crown Princess Katherine.