Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
On Tuesday (March 4), in the Serbian Parliament, opposition MPs caused an incident by activating pyrotechnic devices and throwing smoke bombs. This happened after the ruling majority approved the agenda, which the opposition opposed. The opposition MPs approached the speaker’s desk and unfurled a banner with the message “Serbia is rising to overthrow the regime.”
The Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, the political entity of Kosovo Serbs, the Serbian List, and the head of the Office for Kosovo, Petar Petković, linked this development in the Serbian Parliament to Albin Kurti, saying that they are following his model and called the latter a collaborator of the opposition in Belgrade.
The statements of the Serbian List, Brnabić, and Petković baselessly link the opposition in Serbia with Kurti, presenting every opposition expression there as a conspiracy orchestrated by Kurti against Serbia.
What was claimed by Serbian officials?
The Serbian List interprets today's situation in the Serbian Parliament as a scenario copied from Albin Kurti, accusing the Serbian opposition of following his model, which, according to this party, is aiming to expel everything Serbian from Kosovo through violence and intent. According to them, the opposition does not hide its connection with Kurti and, "with red and black smoke bombs" has given him and his regime - which they consider defeated in the elections - a symbolic victory. (here)
Even the speaker of the Serbian parliament, Ana Brnabic, links the opposition there to Kurti, saying that they have become "stars" of the "Albanian" media (a pejorative term used for Albanians by political figures in Serbia) and that Kurti will thank them for this. (here)
According to Petar Petkovic from the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, the opposition in Belgrade is acting according to “Albin Kurti’s recipe”, causing chaos and violence in parliament. He claims that Kurti’s intention has been to strike Serbia from the beginning and that he has supported this attack against their country. Petkovic directly links the Serbian opposition to Kurti, calling them “his collaborators in Belgrade”. Finally, he emphasizes that “neither Kurti nor his allies will be able to defeat Serbia”. (here)
Statements by the Serbian List, the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabić, and Petar Petković attempt to create a narrative unfounded in fact, artificially linking the Serbian opposition to Albin Kurti and portraying any opposition to the Vučić regime as a conspiracy orchestrated by Kurti against Serbia.
This is a continuation of a previous trend in Serbian narratives, where Serbian media and officials have attempted to link opposition protests in Serbia to Kurti, spreading disinformation and presenting them as coordinated efforts by him to destabilize the country. (here, here)
Tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly
It was 2015, when protests and various scuffles took place in the plenary hall of the Kosovo Assembly. All this culminated when Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje Movement, then in opposition, opposed the Brussels agreement on the normalization of relations with Serbia, which included the formation of an association of Serb-majority municipalities, as well as the agreement on the demarcation of the border line with Montenegro.
At this time, the opposition was united in action, as, in addition to LVV deputies, deputies from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Social Democratic Initiative threw tear gas inside the Kosovo Assembly hall, in an attempt to block the vote.
But such events were repeated in 2016, this time to oppose the election of Hashim Thaçi as president of Kosovo. This time too, there were numerous protests, but also the use of tear gas.
Meanwhile, the demarcation with Montenegro became a topic again in 2018, and once again the Parliament was filled with tear gas.
Analyze:
In the Serbian Parliament, opposition MPs caused an incident on Tuesday (March 4th) by throwing smoke bombs and unfurling anti-government banners after objecting to the agenda.
The Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, the Serbian List and Petar Petković linked this event to Albin Kurti, describing the opposition as his collaborators.
These statements, without any basis, aim to link this event to Kurti and present any opposition to the government there as part of a conspiracy by Kurti against Serbia.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info considers these claims to be "conspiracy theories".
Reasoning:
"Conspiracy theories" are considered to be informational content that contains a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event or person, presenting it as part or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). The characteristic of these contents is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any reliable evidence.