Serbia’s Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Snežana Paunović, said today that her statement regarding the “ethnic cleansing of Kosovo” had been taken out of context and apologized to President Aleksandar Vučić, the Serbian Government, and Prime Minister Đuro Macut because they were “dragged into it through no fault of their own.”
Appearing on Informer TV, Snežana Paunović described it as malicious that “only seven seconds of the entire program” had been singled out and turned into a political issue.
“That was my story, not a statement. It is unpleasant having to explain that this is not the policy of the president or the government,” she said, thanking everyone who stood by her amid the widespread criticism of her remarks. She added that she was most proud of the support she received from the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), of which she is also a member.
However, she said she was most disappointed by the comments of SPS official Branko Ružić, arguing that he has no right to speak about the 1990s or the SPS policies of that period because he was not a member of the party at the time.
Snežana Paunović said she was not surprised by the opposition’s reactions, claiming that the Movement of Free Citizens, which reacted first, was trying to “secure its place in the sun,” while she said the Green-Left Front had used the situation to achieve its own goals and that she “knows what their assignment is.”
She also criticized the media that had “wholeheartedly” supported the condemnation of her remarks, saying that the people who stood by her were defending their dignity and integrity.
She described as paradoxical the decision by the Kosovo authorities to declare her persona non grata, noting that the decision imposing a “permanent ban” on her entry to Kosovo had been made by Kosovo’s provisional institutions.
Snežana Paunović said that she has already been unable to enter Kosovo for the past four years.
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Source: N1; Foto: ATA Images