Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vice President Vlora Çitaku has strongly condemned remarks made by Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Snežana Paunović, who stated during a television interview that she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo” if she had been in the position of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević.
Reacting to the statement, Çitaku said it demonstrates that the ideology responsible for genocide, massacres, and the forced expulsion of civilians has not been defeated in Serbia and that individuals who glorify such crimes continue to hold public office.
“When you hear a Serbian government minister say that Serbia should have ethnically cleansed Kosovo in 1998, you realize the problem is not only the past. The problem is that the ideology which produced genocide, massacres, and mass expulsions has still not been defeated,” Çitaku said.
She added that, in her view, the statement reflects Serbia’s failure to confront its wartime past.
“According to them, they did not kill enough. They did not burn enough. They did not expel enough. This is not only an insult to the victims of the war; it is proof that Serbia has still not come to terms with its criminal past and that voices glorifying such crimes continue to have a place in its institutions,” she stated.
Çitaku also emphasized that despite Serbia’s military superiority during the 1998–1999 war, Kosovo did not surrender.
“In 1998 and 1999, Serbia was larger, better armed, and militarily stronger. We were the weaker side in terms of weapons, but not in spirit. Kosovo did not kneel then, and it will not kneel today, tomorrow, or ever. Eternal glory to Kosovo’s martyrs and fallen heroes,” she said.
Paunović’s remarks have drawn widespread reactions in Kosovo. The European Union also responded, stating that such rhetoric has no place in Europe and calling on Serbia’s political leaders to refrain from inflammatory statements.
