Serbian minister says she would have 'ethnically cleansed' Kosovo if in Milosevic's place

Serbian Public Administration and Local Self-Government Minister Snezhana Paunovic said Monday that if she had been in Slobodan Milosevic's position in 1998, she would have ethnically cleansed Kosovo.

"If I had been in Milosevic's place in 1998, I would have ethnically cleansed Kosovo. And this is the harshest qualification I have ever said. Not in the way they want to liquidate us, but in such a way that they do not feel part of Serbia and go to their mother country," said Paunovic.

Paunovic has long been known for her hardline stance on Kosovo.

In 2022, while serving as deputy speaker of the Serbian Parliament, she called for the arrest and removal of Shaip Kamberi, the only ethnic Albanian member of Serbia's parliament. Kamberi later disclosed her remarks in a Facebook post.

During a parliamentary debate on the Kosovo–Serbia dialogue, Paunovic said: "If we made a mistake by releasing Albin Kurti from prison, let's not make the same mistake by not arresting Shaip Kamberi. If that is not possible, then we should remove him from here."

Kosovo's Minister for Labour, Family and the Values of the Kosovo Liberation War Andin Hoti, said the statement shows that Serbia has not freed itself from its genocidal ideology.

"Your ideological father, Milosevic, tried the same thing in Kosovo, but ended up before international justice, while Serbia left Kosovo with its tail between its legs," Hoti said, addressing the Serbian minister's remarks.

"The response of the people of Kosovo, the Kosovo Liberation Army and the democratic world is well known. Kosovo remained free. Milosevic ended up as a war criminal and today he lies in the ground. Anyone who today calls for ethnic cleansing is not only a threat to Kosovo. They are proof that Serbia has still not freed itself from Milosevic's genocidal ideology and from the criminal policy that brought wars, massacres and historical shame," Hoti wrote.

The Institute for Crimes Committed During the War also said in a statement on social media that "coming to terms with the past remains a prerequisite for building trust and lasting peace in the region."

"The statement by Snezhana Paunovic, a minister in the Government of Serbia, who said that if she had been in the place of Slobodan Milosevic, she would have 'ethnically cleansed Kosovo,' brings renewed attention to the continuity of a discourse linked to the policies responsible for the war, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo," the statement said.

According to the Institute: “The crimes committed during 1998-1999 were the subject of international judicial proceedings, in which the highest-ranking political, military and police leaders of Milosevic's regime were found guilty of crimes in Kosovo.”