Albania’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ferit Hoxha, reacted on Platform X to the statement of the Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snezhana Paunovic, who said that if she had been in Slobodan Milosevic’s place in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo”.

Hoxha described this statement as unacceptable, shocking and a grave insult to the victims of the war, while emphasizing that the relativization of crimes against humanity damages the reconciliation process and undermines cooperation efforts in the region. According to him, the European future of the Western Balkans can only be built on truth, responsibility and respect for the victims.
“The statement of a member of the government of Serbia, who publicly expresses regret that an even greater ethnic cleansing has not been carried out in Kosovo, is unacceptable, shocking and a grave insult to the victims of the war.

The relativization and normalization of one of the most serious crimes against humanity, crimes condemned by history, by international justice and by the human conscience itself, contradicts the values on which today’s Europe is built. They undermine attempts at reconciliation and cooperation feed mistrust and hatred, and reopen wounds that have not yet healed.
No one can build trust by bringing back the darkest shadows of the past, much less by exalting politicians and figures who bear responsibility for tragedies, suffering and crimes that have left deep traces in the history of our region, as the “butcher of the Balkans”, wrote Hoxha.

He said that the process of normalization requires responsibility and reflection on the past.

“The process of normalization and reconciliation, for which Kosovo, Serbia and our entire region needs so much, it requires first of all responsibility, reflection and courage to face the past. It can never be built on statements that justify or exalt the policies that brought so much pain and destruction, but only on the truth, respect for the victims and a sincere commitment to a common European future”, he said.

The statement of the Serbian minister has evoked reactions. She has been punished in Kosovo, but also by the European Union.

Meanwhile, in Serbia, opposition parties have demanded her dismissal.

Source: prizrenpost