Senior researcher at the Kosovo Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), Ilir Deda, has reacted to comments made by Serbia’s Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snezhana Paunović, who stated that if she had been in Slobodan Milošević’s position in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo.”
In an interview with N1, Deda said that such rhetoric brings the region back to the dark atmosphere of the 1990s and the war in Kosovo.
“She repeated three times that she would ethnically cleanse Kosovo. This takes us back to the hell of the conflicts and the war of 1998–1999. I am surprised that she still holds the position of minister in the Government of Serbia. The fact that she has not been dismissed shows that this type of rhetoric is tolerated and supported by the current authorities in Serbia,” Deda stated.
According to him, such statements make the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia even more difficult.
“As long as the desire for ethnic cleansing — which happened during 1998–1999 — is being legitimized, I do not see how even a minimum level of normal relations between Kosovo and Serbia can be achieved,” he said.
Deda emphasized that the issue is not only the minister’s statement itself, but also the lack of reaction from the Serbian government.
“There were many reactions, but everyone was waiting to see what the Government of Serbia would do. It did not react at all. This only strengthens the belief that with a Serbia led by politicians from the 1990s era, it is difficult to reach any agreement or build a shared vision for the Western Balkans based on mutual respect,” he added.
Paunović’s remarks triggered widespread criticism in Serbia and across the region. However, Serbia’s highest state institutions did not publicly condemn her statements.
Following the backlash, the minister issued an apology — not to the citizens affected by the remarks, but to President Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Đuro Macut, and the Government of Serbia, saying she regretted that they had been “unfairly attacked.”
Paunović later claimed that a seven-second segment of her interview had been taken out of context and used to accuse her of calling for ethnic cleansing.
