
Kosovo has declared Snezana Paunovi?, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government in Serbia, non grata after her scandalous statements.
The decision was announced by the Minister of Interior, Xhelal Sveçla.
“Snezana Paunovi?, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government in the Serbian government, has reconfirmed what Serbia has never given up on, the project of ethnic cleansing of Albanians. In our era, this was attempted by its former boss Slobodan Miloševi?, also known as the Butcher of the Balkans.
This language and this manifest aspiration is not new. It is a continuation of a state policy that for many decades has produced violence, crimes and attempts to eradicate Albanians from their lands. Such continuous hatred, expressed in threatening tones towards the constitutional order and sovereignty of our Republic by the minister in question, is unacceptable and must be severely condemned by democratic states and societies that protect peace, human rights and do not tolerate rhetoric and behavior that incites hatred, destabilization and repetition of the criminal policies of the past.
As Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, today I have issued a decision declaring Snezana Paunovi? persona non grata, undesirable, with a permanent ban on entry into or transit through the Republic of Kosovo.
The era when Albanians were oppressed, massacred, and ethnically cleansed has ended once and for all.
"The Republic of Kosovo is a sovereign and democratic state, with strong institutions that protect the constitutional order, territorial integrity and security of every citizen. Today there is law and order, there is justice that continues to seek accountability for crimes committed during the war and there are institutions that will not allow the sovereignty of our country to be violated. Any attempt to revive the ideologies of ethnic cleansing or to threaten the Republic of Kosovo will be met with a firm, legal and institutional response," he said.
Albania, meanwhile, has only been content with one criticism of the Serbian minister, with a statement by Foreign Minister Ferit Hoxha.