Minister's dismissal Snezana Paunovic is asking for a part of the opposition, and the representative of the Party for Democratic Action in the Serbian Parliament, Šaip Kamberi, joined that request.
Harsh reactions are also coming from Of the European Union, which says that "there should be no place in Europe for rhetoric that justifies and advocates ethnic cleansing." Such statements, it is warned, are not even in accordance with the obligations that Serbia has undertaken when it comes to the dialogue with Kosovo.
Member of the European Parliament Sandro Goci says that "Serbia cannot credibly claim that it is committed to membership in the European Union while members of its government are reviving the rhetoric and ideology of the Milosevic era."
Politicians from Albania and Kosovo also see in that rhetoric a confirmation of the continuation of Slobodan's policy Milosevic. Paunović was also declared persona non grata in Kosovo.
The minister does not renounce SPS ideology
The Government of Serbia does not advertise, but this is already a common practice at the moment when the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is out of the country - because it will probably be known only after his reaction on this issue. It is quite certain that such kind of rhetoric and hate speech have practically never been publicly condemned and that the promoters of hate speech have actually only rapidly advanced in their political careers.
Snezana Paunović, after stormy reactions, issued a statement in which, instead of withdrawing from her statements, she wrote that "she does not renounce the policy of the Socialist Party of Serbia, which led Serbia in indescribably difficult historical circumstances, a party that made great sacrifices, a party whose name was most often mentioned in The Hague, a party that did not ask anyone for anything in order to remain upright and faithful to its ideas. I do not renounce the strategy of my party that was chosen for the circumstances armed rebellions in the part of the house called Serbia".
Who is Snežana Paunović, the creator of the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo
Publicly said what the majority in power thinks
Part of the public in Serbia believes that such statements are intended to suppress some other events, but Dragan Popović, director of the Center for Practical Politics, says that this statement is "simply a reflection of the capacity of the minister in public appearances" and that "she only publicly said what the majority in government thinks":
"It's actually a pity that there was no ethnic cleansing, and we know that her SPS party did try to ethnically cleanse Kosovo. Before that, there were mass murders of Kosovo Albanians, and because of that, the entire Yugoslav and Serbian military and police leadership was convicted at the Hague Tribunal. We have therefore reached a situation where ministers glorify the most serious crimes, which would cause a tectonic disturbance elsewhere, but here it will be news in a few days," Popović told DW.
Dacic relativizes hate speech
The party colleague was taken under protection by the Deputy Prime Minister and the President of SPS Ivica Dacic. He called the attacks on the minister hypocritical and added that "the ethnic cleansing of Serbs was carried out in Kosovo", but that "nobody cares".
Photo: Tanjug/Rade PrelićIvica Dacic: "Shameful and hypocritical" attacks on Minister Paunović
According to Dragan Popović, "this is only proof that the ethnic cleansing carried out by Milošević is not a problem for anyone and that a new ethnic cleansing would not be a problem either. The problem is when it is said publicly, and then the relativization of what was said follows. If it can be said about Minister Paunović that she is not politically experienced enough, so she honestly said what is not being said - the same cannot be said about Ivica Dačić. Therefore, I think his statement is even more dangerous", according to our interlocutor.
Glorification of politics in the nineties
No matter how hard the Serbian authorities try to hide their true nature, the fact is that hate speech is carefully nurtured in the public space and is accompanied by increasingly open physical violence. This was especially visible during the July days of remembrance for Srebrenica, and Minister Paunović's performance fit into the common narrative of the authorities when it comes to dealing with the past, war crimes and relations in the region.
Photo: Draško GagovićMirjana Marković and Slobodan Milošević
Therefore, Dragan Popović assesses that all this shows that "not only has there been no departure from the politics of the nineties, but that policy is glorified. So the Serbian Progressive Party and the SPS continue the policy of radicals and socialists, only in changed circumstances. We have a radicalization of public speech and a society that is on the verge of exploding from violence - both verbal and physical. And the fact that we have such outbursts is a consequence of this general radicalization of society. And these are the consequences of the politics of Aleksandar Vučić and his entire coalition", the director of the Center draws attention for practical politics.
Cluster three in trouble
Certain reactions also came from the European Union. Given that the opening of Cluster 3 in the accession negotiations has been a hot topic in recent weeks and that the European Commission has tried to praise some (imaginary) progress of Serbia, Minister Paunović's rhetoric has once again confronted everyone with reality: that the current government is inheriting Slobodan Milošević's policies, reinforced by the political visions of Vojislav Šešelj, and that it has no problem with the difficult legacy of the past.
Dragan Popović therefore estimates that "as time goes on, it will be more and more difficult for the European Commission to be able to maintain that realpolitik stance, where it tries in every way to keep Serbia on the European path, even though this government has long since deviated from that path. It is probably not easy for the people from the Commission to continue turning a blind eye, because the government of Aleksandar Vučić is getting worse and worse. But, a red line should have been drawn a long time ago, below which it cannot go, and I think that Vučić has crossed all the red lines, and I do not know how much power he will have." to hold such a position according to his authority", says Popović.
The ideology of digging into wounds
The traumas of lost wars are clearly still a topic on which political points are scored in Serbia, and our interlocutor says that "that chapter has never been closed. Nationalist ideology does exactly that, it must dig into wounds and constantly spread the belief that the danger has not yet passed."
Unfortunately, the government as it is has the ability to mobilize society on very dangerous grounds. I don't think this is even a final sign of a return to the 90s - this is just a strong signal that in the end just reminds us who the political actors were in the 90s. So the same ones who are still in power today," Popović concludes for DW.
Source: Deutsche Welle (DW)
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