A heated exchange erupted in Serbia’s National Assembly during the debate on a no-confidence motion against the government, with opposition lawmaker Radomir Lazović sharply criticizing Public Administration and Local Self-Government Minister Snežana Paunović over her recent remarks about ethnic cleansing.
Lazović, head of the parliamentary group of the Green-Left Front (ZLF), said it was difficult to determine “whether it is worse when the minister talks about ethnic cleansing or when she tries to justify it by referring to deportations.”
“The minister wants to liquidate people one moment, relocate populations the next, and once again see other people’s children die,” Lazović said, accusing the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) of continuing the political legacy of former Serbian President Slobodan Milošević.
He added that he regretted the SPS had never been banned and criticized Paunović over alleged travel expense claims and salary payments linked to institutions in Kosovo.
Responding to the accusations, Paunović said she never expected to find herself debating in the Serbian parliament with representatives of what she described as the political forces that had “driven her out of Kosovo.”
She also criticized opposition lawmakers who supported an initiative by an ethnic Albanian MP in Serbia’s parliament calling for her dismissal.
The exchange became increasingly tense after Paunović referred to one of her critics as “a life form in parliament,” prompting protests from opposition MPs and warnings issued by National Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić.
Defending herself against accusations over her earlier controversial comments, Paunović argued that only seven seconds of a longer television interview had been taken out of context.
“No matter how much you unite to convince citizens that this is a traitorous government and that I am a persecutor of the Albanian national minority, we will all face the judgment of voters because the people’s verdict is the hardest one,” she said.
She also pledged to donate any travel allowances that could be proven in court to have been improperly claimed.
Lazović further criticized Culture Minister Nikola Selaković, accusing him of focusing on political disputes instead of addressing challenges facing Serbia’s cultural sector, and renewed criticism of Interior Minister Ivica Dačić, questioning his handling of a series of bombing incidents in Belgrade.
The opposition MP also reiterated allegations that security authorities used a sonic device during the March 15, 2025, protests, rejecting Dačić’s attempts to dismiss those claims during the parliamentary debate.
