The European Union has strongly condemned a statement by Snezhana Paunović, Serbia’s Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government. She said that, had she been in the position of former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo”.
The statement sparked numerous reactions, as it was viewed as a justification of ethnic-cleansing rhetoric and a stance contrary to the fundamental principles of the European Union.
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European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said the EU does not comment on individual statements by political figures. However, she stressed that rhetoric justifying, inciting or glorifying ethnic cleansing has no place in Europe, reaffirming the bloc’s commitment to human rights, peace and regional reconciliation.
The reactions come at a time when Kosovo-Serbia relations remain fragile. The European Union continues to call on both sides to avoid inflammatory language and actions that could increase tensions or undermine the normalization of relations.
Meanwhile, Kosovo has declared the Serbian minister ‘non grata’.
On the matter, activist Agim Aliçkaj gave a statement to “Bota Sot”, describing Paunović’s remarks as part of the continuation of historical Serbian policies which, according to him, have aimed to expel and eliminate Albanians from their lands.
He said the Serbian minister’s statement regarding the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo’s Albanians was neither new nor surprising, considering it a continuation of centuries-long efforts by Serbian policy, which he described as chauvinistic, racist and hegemonic.
According to Aliçkaj, projects aimed at eliminating Albanians and taking their land include the 1844 Načertanije, Čubrilović’s 1937 memorandum “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 Čubrilović had set out in detail the methods for implementing what he described as inhumane plans, citing the assertion that “the existence of the Serbian nation depends on the non-existence of the Albanian nation”. He added that, in his view, Serbian plans had been the joint product of state regimes, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Aliçkaj assessed that Serbian plans for genocide in Kosovo failed thanks to Albanian resistance, the Kosovo Liberation Army’s war and NATO’s intervention. However, he said the ideology of hatred toward Albanians continues to exist in Serbia, partly due to the absence of a “denazification” process after the war.
According to him, the heroic centuries-long resistance of Albanians in various forms, crowned by the Kosovo Liberation Army’s liberation war and NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 1999, ultimately caused Serbian genocide against Albanians to fail. He stated that Serbian aspirations continue to be expressed through Paunović’s latest statement.
He added that a large part of the Serbian population, even after the bombing and the loss of four brutal wars, has, in his view, not freed itself from the myths and deceptions of a political class that feeds it hatred toward Albanians and other Balkan peoples.
Aliçkaj called the lack of “denazification” of Serbian society after Serbia’s military defeat a major mistake by Western states, as well as the failure to free it from hatred toward other nations and the dead myths of the Middle Ages.
He further stated that the European Community and America are pursuing a misguided and failed policy of rapprochement with the Serbian regime led by Aleksandar Vučić, whom he described as a collaborator of Milošević. According to him, this policy is linked to interests he called illusory, aimed at pulling Serbia away from Russian influence, while the Serbian regime is exploiting the situation without limits.
He described Anitta Hipper’s reaction, as well as the reactions of many representatives of Western countries, as weak and unserious, except, in his view, for some MPs or thinkers with strong human principles. Aliçkaj stressed that no concrete punitive measures had been taken over Minister Paunović’s statement.
He also claimed that no punitive measures had been taken against Serbia over the terrorist acts in Banjska and Ujman, its failure to sign the Brussels Agreement, and the destabilization of Kosovo and the Balkans. On the other hand, he said Kosovo is subjected to unfair pressure to make further concessions to Serbia, including sanctions against Kosovo for enforcing the law in the north, which he described as a shocking double standard.
In conclusion, Aliçkaj said the reaction from Albania, part of Albanian politics and the international community had been insufficient. He warned that, in his view, without punishing those responsible and without fundamental changes in Serbian policy, lasting peace in the Balkans cannot be guaranteed.
He described the reaction of the mother state and Albania’s illegitimate pro-Serbian prime minister, Edi Rama, as worthless and shameful. According to him, the same applies to the lack of reaction from representatives of certain parties and part of the press in Kosovo and other Albanian lands.
Aliçkaj described Paunović’s statement as dangerous, calling her a minister of hatred in a Serbian state of hatred and myths. According to him, its aim is to deceive Serbian voters in the upcoming elections and divert international attention from the destructive actions of Vučić’s regime, which, according to Aliçkaj, does not take measures against her but presents itself as a “constructive leader committed to peace”.
He concluded that without punishing Serbian criminals, removing the Serbian government that he described as chauvinistic, racist and hegemonic, and without the “denazification” of the part of the Serbian population burdened by hatred toward others, there will be no calm, security or lasting peace in the Balkans.
