EU blasts Serbian minister over ethnic cleansing remarks on Kosovo
The European Union has strongly condemned remarks by Serbian Public Administration Minister Snezana Paunovic suggesting she would have expelled Kosovo Albanians during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war, warning there is "no place in Europe for rhetoric justifying and advocating ethnic cleansing."
EU spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said the comments contradict the bloc's fundamental values of human dignity, reconciliation and accountability.
Paunovic made the remarks during a television interview, saying that if she had been in the position of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic during the conflict, she would have ensured that Albanians who "feel less like citizens" left Kosovo for what she described as their homeland.
Opposition demands resignation
The comments triggered sharp criticism inside Serbia, with opposition parties calling for Paunovic's resignation.
The minister rejected the demands, defending the policies of her Serbian Socialist Party, founded by Milosevic, and saying she would not distance herself from its political legacy.
Milosevic ruled Serbia throughout the 1990s before being overthrown in 2000. He was later transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to face charges of crimes against humanity but died in 2006 before a verdict was delivered.
Kosovo's Labour Minister Andin Hoti described Paunovic's remarks as evidence that Serbia has not broken with what he called Milosevic's genocidal ideology and the policies that fueled conflict across the Balkans.
The Kosovo war ended in June 1999 following a NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces. The conflict claimed around 13,000 lives.
Fresh tensions threaten normalization efforts
The latest dispute comes as Serbia and Kosovo remain engaged in an EU-mediated dialogue aimed at normalizing relations.
Despite Kosovo declaring independence in 2008, Serbia continues to reject its sovereignty, leaving relations between the two neighbors among the most sensitive issues in the Western Balkans.
Source:AA
