The opposition Srbija Centar (SRCE) party, alongside the Free Citizens Movement (PSG), has launched an urgent demand for the dismissal of Snežana Paunović, Serbia’s Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government. The political firestorm erupted after Paunović publicly declared during a televised broadcast that “she would have ethnically cleansed Kosovo in 1998” had she been in the position of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević.
The SRCE party has formally called on Prime Minister Đuro Macut to break his silence and clarify whether the minister’s statement reflects the official doctrine of the ruling cabinet.
The Opposition’s Ultimatum to PM Macut
In a sharply worded public statement, the centrist party warned that Paunović’s rhetoric threatens to drag the country back into its darkest historical chapters.
“Prime Minister Macut must urgently answer the public: Is this chauvinistic statement the official policy of his Government? Does he personally and politically stand behind these words? If not, what concrete measures will he take against the minister, and will he demand her immediate resignation or launch dismissal proceedings in Parliament?”
— Official Statement by the SRCE Party
The party added that a failure to remove Paunović would amount to “direct complicity,” proving that the ruling coalition’s stated commitment to European Union integration is entirely hypocritical while its officials continue to rehabilitate policies of forced displacement and ethnic division.
Paunović’s Television Remarks & Defensive Pivot
The scandal erupted during Paunović’s appearance on Kurir TV. While she acknowledged that her statement was “the harshest qualification she has ever uttered in her life,” she attempted to redefine her definition of the term:
- Expulsion, Not Liquidation: Paunović argued that she did not mean “liquidating” the population, but rather ensuring that “anyone who felt less like a resident of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should leave it and go to their mother country.”
- Targeting Militants: She added that individuals involved in insurgent activities should have been “liquidated in the manner that terrorists are dealt with today.”
- Distancing From Milošević: Interestingly, Paunović noted that neither Slobodan Milošević nor her own political party, the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), ever held an approach as extreme as hers.
Paunović has been a member of the SPS since 1992 and was elevated to the position of party Vice President in 2024. She previously served two terms as the Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly.
The Shadow of The Hague: Historical Context
The political backlash inside Serbia closely mirrors the international legal framework established by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague:
| Accused Official | Position During 1998-1999 War | ICTY Judicial Outcome |
| Slobodan Milošević | President of the FRY | Died in his cell in March 2006 before a final verdict could be reached; indicted for orchestrating a conspiracy to expel 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians. |
| Nikola Šainović | Deputy Prime Minister of the FRY | Sentenced to 18 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity. |
| Nebojša Pavković | Chief of the General Staff (VJ) | Sentenced to 22 years in prison. |
| Sreten Lukić | Head of Serbian Ministry of Interior (MUP) in Kosovo | Sentenced to 20 years in prison. |
| Milan Milutinović | President of the Republic of Serbia | Acquitted of all charges. |
The PSG and SRCE opposition groups emphasized that this specific criminal lineage is exactly why a sitting minister cannot be allowed to promote ethnic partitioning while representing a state seeking modern European normalization.
