The Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government in Serbia, Snezhana Paunovic, has apologized after her statements about the "ethnic cleansing of Kosovo", but her apology was addressed only to President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Đuro Macu, not including Albanians or families affected by the war in Kosovo.
Her statement has caused strong reactions inside and outside Serbia, while Paunovic claimed that her words were taken out of context and that only a short part of the interview was excerpted in the media.
However, in the interview published by the relevant media, she is heard stating that, if she had been in Slobodan Milosevic's place in 1998, she would have acted differently regarding Kosovo, also mentioning "ethnic cleansing".
"This was my personal statement, not a political statement. It is unpleasant that I have to explain that this is not the policy of the president or the government," Paunovic declared, distancing himself from the political responsibility of the statement.
She claimed that with her statement she had in mind the removal of persons who, according to her, did not consider themselves part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, while those who would commit "terrorist acts" would be treated as terrorists.
The Serbian minister described as "paradoxical" the decision of the Kosovo authorities to declare her persona non grata, criticizing the ban on her entry into Kosovo and referring to Kosovo's institutions as "temporary".
