EU Enlargement Commissioner Kos responds sharply to Serbian minister: "There is no place in Europe for rhetoric that legitimizes, defends, or glorifies ethnic cleansing."

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos reacted to Serbian Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Snezana Paunovic, who said, "If I were Milošević, I would have carried out ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1998." Kos stated, "There is no place in Europe for rhetoric that legitimizes, defends, or glorifies ethnic cleansing. Personally, I am appalled to even have to say this."

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos answered a question regarding Serbian Minister Snezana Paunovic's controversial statements during a press conference held today after the Intergovernmental Accession Conference between the EU and Montenegro.

In response to a question about how a cabinet member's statements in Serbia, an EU candidate country, advocating that "ethnic cleansing should have been carried out in Kosovo" affected the Commission's views on Serbia, Kos said, "In the face of such statements, the only thing that can be at stake is zero tolerance. In light of what we have heard, I must clearly state that there is no place in Europe for rhetoric that legitimizes, defends, or glorifies ethnic cleansing. Personally, I am appalled to even have to say this."

EU Commissioner Kos, stating that such remarks directly contradict values such as human dignity, reconciliation, accountability, and good neighborly relations upon which the EU is founded, said, "Without these values, the accession process cannot progress. These statements also contradict Serbia's commitments under the EU-facilitated dialogue for the normalization of relations with Kosovo." Kos added, "My only hope in this situation is that these are merely the views of one minister and do not reflect the official stance of the Serbian government. Our expectation from political leaders is that they act responsibly, refrain from provocative rhetoric, and contribute to building trust, reconciliation, and regional stability."

Serbian Interior Minister Defends Scandalous Statements

While EU Commissioner Marta Kos expressed hope that these statements were the views of a single minister, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic defended Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Paunovic's remarks. Dacic claimed that Serbs in Kosovo were subjected to ethnic cleansing and accused those criticizing Paunovic's statements of hypocrisy and shamelessness.

Following media reports of Serbian Minister Paunovic's statements made during a program aired on the anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, Shaip Kamberi, a Member of Parliament of Albanian origin in the Serbian Parliament, demanded the Serbian minister's resignation.

Serbian opposition parties, meanwhile, described the minister's statement as "a direct threat to the security of Serbs living in Kosovo" and a "provocation."

A student group that has been organizing protests against the Serbian government for months also described the statement as "unacceptable and contrary to the constitution, human rights, and human dignity."

Due to her statements against Kosovo, Paunovic was declared persona non grata in Kosovo today by a decision.

Kosovo-born Serbian Minister Paunovic had stated in her controversial remark, "If I were Slobodan Milošević, I would have carried out ethnic cleansing in Kosovo in 1998. This is perhaps the harshest statement I have ever made in my life."

Paunovic further stated that by this, she meant not the massacre of Kosovar Albanians, but their departure to Albania, which she described as their "homeland." - BRUSSELS