Serbian Minister Snežana Paunović kept salary from closed Kosovo pharmacy

Serbian politician Snežana Paunović, a member of parliament and later appointed minister in 2025, continued to receive payment as the acting director of the Peć Pharmacy Institute despite the institution being officially closed by the Serbian government in October 2021. Documents reviewed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Slobodna Europa show she earned roughly €146,000 over the period, receiving a salary until 15 April 2025 when she assumed ministerial duties.

The institute, based in the Serbian‑controlled village of Goraždevac near Peć, was removed from the health‑institution register in 2021, a move Paunović herself had filed. Nonetheless, her income and wealth declarations submitted to Serbia’s Anti‑Corruption Agency confirm the continued payments. Serbian authorities, the Kosovo office of the Serbian government, and the Republic Health Insurance Fund have not responded to media inquiries. The controversy follows Paunović’s earlier remarks that she would have “ethnically cleansed” Kosovo in 1998, for which she later apologised. Kosovo officials have declared her persona non grata, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said her statements do not reflect Belgrade’s position.