Serbian minister faces calls for dismissal over alleged ethnic cleansing remarks

Serbia's Free Citizens Movement (PSG) has called for the urgent dismissal of Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snežana Paunović, over what they describe as a "chauvinistic statement" containing hate speech. Paunović reportedly stated that if she had been in Slobodan Milošević's place in 1998, she would have ethnically cleansed Kosovo.

The PSG views this statement as a conscious advocacy for ethnic persecution. They further noted that Paunović's subsequent explanation, that she meant expelling people to their supposed "mother country", does not mitigate the severity of her remarks. The movement also expressed concern over her alleged racist depictions of Albanians as inferior beings.

According to the PSG, any individual who justifies expelling people based solely on their national origin is unfit to be a member of the Serbian government. They highlighted the particular danger of such messages coming from a minister responsible for public administration and local self-government, roles that should guarantee equality for all citizens and uphold the constitution and laws.

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If I had been in Slobodan Milošević's place, I would have ethnically cleansed Kosovo in 1998.

The movement also raised the possibility of criminal liability for Paunović under Article 317 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits inciting national, racial, or religious hatred and intolerance. The PSG expects the public prosecutor's office to investigate whether her public statements contain elements of this crime.

PSG warned that if Prime Minister Đuro Macut does not propose Paunović's dismissal, it would confirm that the current government is a continuation of Slobodan Milošević's administrations from the "darkest decade" of Serbia's recent history. They see this as evidence of a continued unwillingness to distance the country from policies of hatred, nationalism, and war, directly harming Serbia's interests and the position of Serbs in Kosovo.

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In a way that everyone who feels less like a resident of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should leave it and go to their mother country. And those who opted for terrorist actions should be liquidated in the way that is usually dealt with terrorists even today.