Committee for transfer of royal family’s remains

The Oplenac church (file)

23/3/2012
TANJUG

BELGRADE — The Serbian government decided Thursday to form a committee for exhumation and transfer of remains of members of the Karađorđević royal family to Serbia.

The committee will be headed by Serbian President Boris Tadić, Minister of Religion and Diaspora Srđan Srećković told a press conference after today’s session.

Srećković said that the committee will comprise government officials, representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Crown Council, as well as historians and Serbian ambassadors to countries in which the members of the royal family were buried.

By reaching a decision to form such a committee, the government expressed Serbia’s readiness to correct historical injustice and put a stop to ideological divisions, he said.

“This will correct the historical injustice done to the members of the royal family whose remains are scattered around the world. The decision is also important because this refers to two former rulers, Petar II Karađorđević and Prince Pavle Karađorđević,” Srećković said, and added that the remains of Queen Marija, Princess Olga and Prince Nikola Karađorđević will also be transferred to the homeland.

He noted that the remains are located in Great Britain, the U.S., France and Switzerland and that they will be transferred to Serbia and buried in the Crypt of St. George (Sv. Đorđe) Church in Oplenac.

Srećković underlined that problems which were a consequence of the civil war (1941-1945) are now becoming less important, that the law on rehabilitation is being implemented, and added that the law on restitution has been adopted and that Serbia has managed to achieve national reconciliation.

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