The Commissioner for Enlargement of the European Union, Marta Kos, repeated her condemnation of the statement of the Minister of the Serbian Government, Snezhana Paunovi\u0107, regarding the “ethnic cleansing” in Kosovo and expressed surprise that she continues to remain a minister.<\/p>\n
Kos called on the politicians in the candidate countries for EU membership to bear in mind that every word said has weight.<\/p>\n
“It was shocking to hear something like this in the year 2026. I will not repeat what she said. It was really shocking to hear such a statement. I can’t imagine that a minister, after such a public statement, can continue to exercise her duty”, declared Commissioner Kos, during her speech to the Special Committee for the European Parliament’s Shield.<\/p>\n
The Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government in the Government Serbian, Snezhana Paunovic, speaking about her life in Kosovo and her departure from Peja during the war, she declared on July 11 that “she would not have liquidated the Albanians as they are trying to ethnically cleanse Kosovo, but in such a way that anyone who felt less a citizen of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, would leave and go to their mother country”.<\/p>\n
This statement was also condemned by the United Kingdom. According to London, the language used by Paunovic is “abhorrent” and references to ethnic cleansing have no place in today’s society.<\/p>\n
Through a statement, a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said that at a time when countries in the Western Balkans are focused on building a peaceful and multi-ethnic future, “statements like these aim to reopen old divisions and fuel tensions”.<\/p>\n
“Responsible political leaders must reject such language”, the statement said.<\/p>\n
Serbian President, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, has reacted to Paunovi\u0107, saying that her statement does not reflect his will, nor that of the Government of Serbia, adding that the policy of the Serbian state is dialogue, and never ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n
Paunovi\u0107 – vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, the party of Milosevic – did not retract her words, but said on July 16 that they were “taken out of context” and apologized to Vu\u010di\u0107 and the Government of Serbia for the reactions it caused.<\/p>\n
Her statement that she would ethnically cleanse Kosovo if she was at the head of the state in 1998 provoked many reactions, and Kosovo on July 14 declared her persona non grata, banning her for life entering or passing through the territory of Kosovo.<\/p>\n
Observers from Kosovo and Serbia told Radio Free Europe that Paunovi\u0107’s statement is part of a political model of Serbia against Kosovo, demanding that the international community not be satisfied with just reactions, but to take concrete actions towards Serbia. Milosevic”.<\/p>\n
“It is good that everyone – in addition to condemning this language – should also keep it in mind when they talk to Serbia about integration, reforms and funds, as well as to understand that these are not just statements, but aspirations from which the official state of Serbia has not given up”, said the Kosovo executive.<\/p>\n
The then state leaders and the security forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were condemned by the Hague Tribunal. for the violent expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Albanian civilians from Kosovo, in the period March-June 1999.<\/p>\n
During the war in Kosovo, in the years 1998-1999, more than 13,000 civilians were killed, while thousands more disappeared. More than 1,500 people, most of them Albanians, are still missing.<\/p>\n
According to the official data of the European Commission, the degree of harmonization of Serbia with the EU sanctions policy is slightly more than 60 percent.<\/p>\n
So far, Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia or Belarus in accordance with the decisions of the European bloc, which has so far approved Moscow 20 sanctions packages in response to aggression against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Kos, speaking before the MEPs, assessed that the low support for European integration in Serbia is also a consequence of the messages sent by politicians, as well as the way the media reports.<\/p>\n
She emphasized that it is unacceptable for a candidate country to use anti-European rhetoric, especially against the members of the European Parliament, journalists and all those who criticize the developments in place.<\/p>\n
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