The Commissioner of the European Union for Enlargement, Marta Kos, has again condemned the statements of the Serbian Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government, Snezhana Paunović, regarding Kosovo, calling them shocking and unacceptable.
During a session in the Special Committee for the Shield of European Democracy in the European Parliament, Kos said that she was surprised that Paunović continues to hold the post of minister, after her statements.
“It was shocking to hear something like this in 2026. I will not even repeat what she said. It was really shocking to hear such a statement. I can’t imagine that a minister, after such a public statement, can continue to exercise her duty”, declared Marta Kos.
The commissioner also called on the politicians of the candidate countries for membership in the European Union to show responsibility in their public statements, stressing that every word has weight and consequences.
Paunovic said that if he had been at the head of the state in 1998, he would not have “ethnically cleansed the Albanians”.
These statements were immediately condemned by the European Union and caused strong reactions in Kosovo. On July 14, the authorities in Pristina declared Snezhana Paunović an unwanted person, permanently prohibiting her from entering and crossing the territory of Kosovo.
