Agim Aliçkaj Warns After Serbian Minister’s Statement: Without Fundamental Changes, the Balkans Will Not Have Lasting Peace

The statement by Serbia’s Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snezhana Paunović, that if she had been in the position of former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo,” has been strongly condemned by the European Union.

Her remarks prompted numerous reactions, as they were seen as a justification of rhetoric advocating ethnic cleansing and as a statement contrary to the principles on which the European Union is founded.

Responding to the issue, European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said that the EU does not comment on individual remarks by political officials. Nevertheless, she made it clear that there can be no room in Europe for language that justifies, incites or glorifies ethnic cleansing. Hipper also reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to human rights, peace and reconciliation in the region.

The Serbian minister made the statement at a time when relations between Kosovo and Serbia remain fragile. The European Union continues to call on both sides to refrain from inflammatory language and actions that could heighten tensions or undermine the process of normalizing relations.

It should also be recalled that Kosovo has declared the Serbian minister “persona non grata.”

Activist Agim Aliçkaj spoke to “Bota sot” about the issue. According to him, Paunović’s statement about the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo is not an isolated case, but reflects the continuation of historic Serbian policies that, he claims, have sought to expel and eradicate Albanians from their lands.

Aliçkaj said that Minister Paunović’s position on ethnically cleansing Kosovo of Albanians is neither new nor surprising. He described it as a continuation of the centuries-old efforts of a chauvinistic, racist and hegemonic Serbian policy aimed at eradicating Albanians.

According to him, there have been numerous projects to eliminate Albanians and seize their lands for the Serbs. He listed the 1844 Načertanije, Čubrilović’s 1937 memorandum titled “The Expulsion of the Albanians,” the 1986 Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), and Operation “Horseshoe” of 1998–1999, organized by the regime of war criminal Slobodan Milošević.

The activist said that Čubrilović had presented in detail the methods and means of implementing what he called Serbia’s inhumane plans. Aliçkaj recalled his assertion that “the existence of the Serbian nation depends on the nonexistence of the Albanian nation.” He added that all these plans, in his view, were the joint product of state regimes, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Aliçkaj went on to say that Serbia’s plans for genocide in Kosovo failed thanks to Albanian resistance, the KLA’s war and NATO’s intervention. Nevertheless, according to him, the ideology of hatred toward Albanians remains present in Serbia, partly because no “denazification” process took place after the war.

He said that the Albanian people’s heroic, centuries-long resistance, waged in various forms, culminated in the KLA’s war of liberation and NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 1999. For this reason, he said, Serbia’s genocide against Albanians ultimately failed, and did so shamefully. Nevertheless, Aliçkaj said Serbia’s futile aspirations continue, as demonstrated by Minister Paunović’s latest statement.

According to the activist, a significant portion of the Serbian people, even after the bombing and the loss of four brutal wars, has still not broken free from the myths and deceptions of a political class he described as sick. He said this class continues to rule by inciting hatred toward Albanians and other peoples of the Balkans.

Aliçkaj described the failure of Western countries to undertake the “denazification” of Serbian society following Serbia’s military defeat, freeing it from hatred toward other nations and from what he called the dead myths of the Middle Ages, as a major mistake.

He further criticized the approach of the European Union and the United States toward Serbia, saying they are pursuing a lenient policy and taking no concrete action over its statements and conduct. At the same time, according to Aliçkaj, Kosovo is being subjected to unfair pressure, amounting to a double standard.

The activist said that the European Community and the United States are continuing what he called the mistaken and failed policy of appeasing the Serbian regime. He stressed that this regime is led by Aleksandar Vučić, an associate of Milošević, while this approach, in his view, is motivated by illusory geostrategic interests aimed at drawing Serbia away from Russian influence. Aliçkaj added that the Serbian regime is exploiting this situation without restraint or mercy.

As evidence, he cited what he described as the weak and unserious response by European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper, as well as the positions of many representatives of Western countries. According to him, the only exceptions are a few lawmakers or thinkers with strong humanitarian principles, while concrete punitive action over Minister Paunović’s inhumane statement is entirely absent.

Aliçkaj claimed that no concrete punitive measures have been taken against Serbia over the terrorist acts in Banjska and Ujman, its refusal to sign the Brussels agreement, and its destabilization of Kosovo and the Balkans. On the other hand, he said, Kosovo is being asked to make further concessions to Serbia through unfair pressure, including sanctions against Kosovo for enforcing the law in the north. He called this double standard shocking.

In conclusion, the activist said that reactions from Albania, part of the Albanian political establishment and the international community have been insufficient. He warned that without punishing those responsible and without fundamental changes in Serbian policy, long-term peace cannot be established in the Balkans.

Aliçkaj described the reaction of the mother country and of the person he characterized as Albania’s illegitimate pro-Serbian prime minister, Edi Rama, as worthless and shameful. He used the same terms to describe the silence of representatives of several parties and part of the press in Kosovo and other Albanian territories.

According to him, the statement by Paunović, whom he called the minister of hatred of a Serbian state built on hatred and myths, poses a danger. Aliçkaj claimed that her aim is to deceive Serbian voters in the upcoming elections and divert international attention from the destructive actions of the Vučić regime. He added that the regime is taking no action against the minister, while Vučić is already presenting himself as a “constructive leader committed to peace.”

In his concluding statement to “Bota sot,” Aliçkaj said that everyone must understand this message, including both national and non-national Albanians, as well as international actors with differing positions. According to him, without punishing Serbian criminals, removing the Serbian government that he described as chauvinistic, racist and hegemonic, and denazifying the segment of the Serbian population burdened by hatred toward others, there will never be stability, security and lasting peace in the Balkans.