Albanian MP in Serbian Parliament Demands Dismissal of Minister Over Ethnic Cleansing Statement

The Albanian deputy in the Parliament of Serbia, Shaip Kamberi, has reacted following the statement by the Serbian Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snežana Paunović, who said that if she had been in Slobodan Milošević’s place in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo.”

Kamberi announced that he will initiate a request for the minister’s dismissal, stressing that otherwise the lack of reaction will be interpreted as approval of the statement by the entire Government of Serbia.

“The fascist statements of government ministers best show that Milošević’s Serbia remains the same! The statement by the Minister for Local Government, Snežana Paunović, that if she were in Slobodan Milošević’s place she would ethnically cleanse Kosovo, is scandalous, unacceptable, and demands an immediate institutional reaction. For this reason, today, through an official letter, I have requested a reaction from all relevant international embassies in Belgrade.

Such a statement cannot be considered isolated. It is the result of systematic denial of war crimes, glorification of convicted war criminals, relativization of international court decisions, and historical revisionism. For the Albanians of the Preševo Valley, such statements from representatives of state institutions constitute an additional source of insecurity. When a member of the Government talks about ethnic cleansing, members of minority communities rightly ask what security they can expect from these institutions. As a candidate country for membership in the European Union, Serbia has an obligation to respect and protect the rights of minority communities. Such statements are in direct contradiction to these obligations and exceed any democratic standard on which the European Union is based. In my capacity as a deputy in the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia, I will initiate the request for the minister’s dismissal. Otherwise, silence and lack of action will be understood as approval of her statement and as the official position of the entire Government,” – he writes.