Albanian MP in the Serbian Parliament, Shaip Kamberi, has reacted after the statement of the Serbian Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snezhana Paunovic, who said that if she had been in Slobodan Milosevic’s place in 1998, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo.”
Kamberi announced that he will initiate a request for the minister’s dismissal, emphasizing that, otherwise, the lack of reaction will be interpreted as approval of the statement by the entire Serbian Government.
“The fascist statements of government ministers show best that Milošević’s Serbia continues to remain the same! The statement of the Minister of Local Government, Snežana Paunović, that if she were in Slobodan Milošević’s place she would ethnically cleanse Kosovo, is scandalous, unacceptable and requires immediate institutional reaction. For this reason, today, through an official letter, I have requested a reaction from all relevant international embassies in Belgrade.
Such a statement cannot be considered isolated. It is the result of the systematic denial of war crimes, the glorification of convicted war criminals, the relativization of the decisions of international courts and the revisionism of history. For the Albanians of the Presevo Valley, such statements by representatives of state institutions constitute an additional source of insecurity. When a member of the Government speaks of ethnic cleansing, members of minority communities rightly ask what security they can expect from these institutions. As a candidate country for membership in the European Union, Serbia has an obligation to respect and protect the rights of minority communities. Such statements are in direct contradiction with these obligations and exceed every democratic standard on which the European Union is based. In my capacity as a member of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia, I will initiate the request for the dismissal of the minister. Otherwise, silence and inaction will be understood as approval of her statement and as the official position of the entire Government,” he writes.