Powerful warning from activist: Serbian minister’s words on ethnic cleansing reveal an ongoing danger for the region

The European Union has reacted strongly after a statement by Snezhana Paunović, Serbian Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government, who said that if she had been in Slobodan Milošević’s position in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo”.

These comments have been met with widespread condemnation, as they are seen as an attempt to legitimize ethnic cleansing rhetoric and run counter to the fundamental principles of the European Union.

Anitta Hipper, spokesperson for the European Commission, stressed that while the institution does not usually comment on individual statements, there is no room in Europe for language that justifies, promotes, or glorifies ethnic cleansing. She reaffirmed the EU’s unwavering commitment to human rights, peace, and reconciliation in the region.

This statement comes at a time when relations between Kosovo and Serbia remain extremely delicate, and Brussels continues to call on both sides to distance themselves from provocative language and actions that endanger the normalization process.

Meanwhile, Kosovo has declared Minister Paunović persona ‘non grata’.

Regarding this development, activist Agim Aliçkaj gave a statement to “Bota sot”, warning that this declaration is far from spontaneous but reflects an unbroken line of historical Serbian policies aimed at the displacement and destruction of Albanians from their lands.

Aliçkaj placed the minister’s speech in a broader context, noting that plans for the elimination of Albanians date back to the Načertanije of 1844, continue with Čubrilović’s 1937 Memorandum on the “Expulsion of the Albanians”, the 1986 Memorandum of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and culminate in the “Horseshoe” operation of 1998–1999, organized by the Milošević regime. He recalled that Čubrilović had clearly stated that the survival of the Serbian nation depended on the disappearance of the Albanian nation, adding that these plans are the product of collaboration between state regimes, the Serbian Academy, and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Fortunately, according to him, the unbroken resistance of the Albanians, the liberation war of the KLA, and NATO’s intervention in 1999 caused the Serbian genocide in Kosovo to fail. Nevertheless, he underscores that the ideology of hatred towards Albanians remains alive in Serbia, partly due to the lack of a “denazification” process of Serbian society after the conflict.

He argued that a major mistake by Western powers was precisely the failure to liberate the Serbian people from medieval myths and to promote genuine reconciliation, leaving intact a political class that feeds the electorate with hatred towards neighbors.

Aliçkaj sharply criticized the approach of the European Union and the United States, describing it as a policy of appeasement towards the regime led by Aleksandar Vučić, a former collaborator of Milošević. According to him, the tepid reaction of the EC spokesperson, as well as the lack of concrete punitive measures for acts like the terrorist attack in Banjska and Ujman, or for the non-signing of the Brussels agreement, reveal a shocking double standard. Meanwhile, he added, the unfair pressure on Kosovo for further concessions, including sanctions for the implementation of the law in the north, reinforces this impression.

Finally, the activist called the reaction of official Albania and Prime Minister Edi Rama worthless and shameful, as well as the silence of a part of the parties and press in the Albanian space. He warned that Minister Paunović’s statement is dangerous and serves to deceive Serbian voters ahead of elections, as well as to divert international attention from the destructive actions of Vučić’s regime. Aliçkaj concluded that without the punishment of criminals, the removal of a chauvinist government, and the eradication of hatred from a segment of Serbian society, there will never be lasting peace and security in the Balkans.