Kosovo bans Serb minister over ethnic cleansing remarks
Kosovo officials said Paunovic’s remarks justified ethnic cleansing, and the European Union condemned the comments as inflammatory rhetoric.
- On Tuesday, July 14, Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla declared Serbian Minister Snezana Paunovic a permanent persona non grata, permanently banning her from entering or transiting through the Republic of Kosovo.
- During a Monday interview with a Belgrade-based channel, Paunovic stated that if she had been in the position of President Slobodan Milosevic in 1999, she "would ethnically cleanse Kosovo," sparking immediate public outcry.
- More than 13,000 people died during the late 1990s conflict when Kosovo was a Serbian province under Milosevic; Paunovic's comments, which she termed her "harshest qualification," drew swift condemnation.
- European Union enlargement commissioner Marta Kos condemned the statements on Tuesday, stating, "There is no place in Europe for rhetoric that justifies, advocates and glorifies ethnic cleansing."
- The Free Citizens Movement urged Prime Minister Duro Macut to dismiss Paunovic, while critics argue her rhetoric reveals Serbia has not distanced itself from Milosevic's genocidal ideology and the wars of the 1990s.
32 Articles
32 Articles
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has once again condemned Serbian Minister Snežana Paunović's statement that she ethnically cleansed Kosovo in 1998. In Brussels, she expressed surprise that she was still a minister. Paunović has apologized to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and the government for the reactions to the statement, but stressed that she stands behind it.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has once again condemned Serbian Minister Snežana Paunović's statement that she ethnically cleansed Kosovo in 1998, expressing surprise that she is still the minister. Paunović has meanwhile apologised for the reactions to the statement,
Snezana Paunovic, Serbia's Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, would have liked to have expelled the Kosovo Albanians in 1999. In Serbia and from the EU, it is critical that Kosovo imposes an entry ban.
The European Union (EU) on Tuesday condemned comments by a Serbian government minister that she would have "ethnically cleansed" Kosovo if she had been in power during the 1990s conflict.
"If I were Slobodan Milosevic, I would have carried out ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1998," said Snezana Paunovic.
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