rki.news | Source: Anadolu Agency
Brussels: The European Commission has criticized statements that justify or promote ethnic cleansing after a Serbian minister made controversial remarks regarding Kosovo and the 1998 conflict.
Speaking at a press briefing in Brussels, European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said the European Union would not comment on individual statements but reaffirmed the bloc’s position against such rhetoric.
“There is no place in Europe for rhetoric justifying and advocating for ethnic cleansing,” Hipper said, stressing that such remarks conflict with the EU’s core values of human dignity, reconciliation, accountability and good neighborly relations.
She said the comments also contradict Serbia’s commitments under the EU-facilitated dialogue aimed at normalizing relations with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Hipper urged leaders to act responsibly, avoid inflammatory language and support an atmosphere of trust and regional stability.
The remarks followed comments by Serbian Public Administration and Local Self-Government Minister Snezhana Paunovic, who said she would have carried out the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo if she had held the position of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic during the 1998 conflict.
Milosevic led Serbia during the Kosovo war and died in 2006 while facing trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.