European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos has issued a highly direct and stern condemnation of Serbian Minister Snežana Paunović, questioning how she is still allowed to hold office following her public comments advocating the “ethnic cleansing” of Albanians in Kosovo.
Speaking before the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Shielding European Democracy, Kos urged political figures in candidate countries seeking EU membership to recognize the immense geopolitical weight of their rhetoric.
The EU’s Sharp Rebuke
In her address, Commissioner Kos expressed deep shock over the recurrence of such inflammatory nationalist rhetoric in Europe:
“It was shocking to hear something like this in 2026. I will not even repeat what she said. It was truly horrifying to hear such a statement. I cannot imagine that a minister, after making such a public declaration, can continue to hold office.”
— Marta Kos, EU Commissioner for Enlargement
Kos noted that such extreme rhetoric from public officials severely undermines the democratic and civilizational values required of any state actively seeking integration into the European Union.
The Controversial Statement
The diplomatic crisis was ignited by comments made on July 11, 2026, by Paunović, who serves as Serbia’s Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government. Reflecting on her family’s departure from Peć (Peja) during the 1999 conflict, she stated:
- She claimed she would not have “liquidated” Kosovo Albanians.
- However, she asserted that she would have acted in a way where “everyone who felt less like a citizen of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia would leave and go to their parent state.”
This explicit justification of forced population displacement has drawn widespread international condemnation, including a formal statement from the United Kingdom, which branded the comments as “abhorrent” and warned they threaten to reopen deep ethnic divisions across the Western Balkans.
