Kosovo has declared the Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government of Serbia Snezana Paunovic persona non grata after her recent statements that if she had been in the place of the then President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic in 1998, she would have "ethnically cleansed Kosovo", the newspaper "Koha Ditore" reported, quoted by BTA.
Paunovic said this in an interview with "Kurir" television, and she later clarified that she did not mean the physical destruction of Albanians, but the departure of people who do not feel like citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. According to her, those who committed terrorist acts, should have been treated as terrorists.
The decision of the Kosovo authorities last night prohibits Paunovic from entering or transiting through Kosovo.
According to Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sveclja, the language used by Paunovic is a continuation of a state policy that “has produced violence, crimes and attempts to erase Albanians from their lands for many decades“, the publication writes. He added that such statements should be strongly condemned by all countries.
“The era when Albanians were oppressed, killed and subjected to ethnic cleansing has ended once and for all“, Sveclja wrote on Facebook.
According to him, any attempt to revive ideologies related to ethnic cleansing or threats to the Republic of Kosovo, “will be faced with decisive legal and institutional response“.