Wrote: Altina Marmullaku
A claim published by a Serbian-language media outlet was also broadcast in Albanian-language media outlets.
The claim of “RT Balkans”, published on November 26, says that the Kosovo delegation also participated in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly held in Montreal, Canada, on November 22-25.
A day later (November 27), the claim of the Serbian-language media outlet was also broadcast by at least one Albanian-language media outlet in Kosovo.
What did "RT Balkan" say and what did "Gazeta Express" say?
The Serbian language media outlet "RT Balkan", in an article published on November 25th titled "RT Balkans learns: NATO has not granted visas to Serbian MPs", and with subtitle "Canada has not allowed two Serbian representatives to attend the NATO Parliamentary Assembly session in Montreal. The fake state of Kosovo is a rare guest", claimed that the Kosovo delegation was a participant in this session.
The same claim, taken from the aforementioned Serbian-language media outlet, has also been made by the Albanian-language media outlet in Kosovo, "Express newspaper" with title "NATO plenary session: Kosovo was a participant - Serbian delegation was denied visas, suspected to be due to Russian interference." (here)
What's wrong with this article?
Albanian-language media has broadcast inaccurate information from Serbian-language media, claiming that the Kosovo delegation participated in the proceedings of the NATO General Assembly in Montreal, Canada.
But, the other Albanian-language medium, "AlbanianPost", on November 25, reported that the Kosovo delegation did not actually participate in this NATO PA session.
The Head of the Kosovo Delegation to the NATO PA, Driton Hyseni, had said that one of the reasons for his absence from the second annual session was the need for him "to be present in the country to participate in the session of the Kosovo Assembly to vote on the 2025 budget."
Kosovo's non-participation in the NATO plenary session was also confirmed by the MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Xhavit Haliti.
"The Kosovo Assembly administration has been late in sending visas... I have been late too. As for the budget, that could be the reason, but I don't know," Haliti had said.
Analyze
The news published by "Gazeta Express" was taken from the Serbian language media outlet "RT Balkan", which talks about the reasons for the non-participation of the Serbian delegation in the NATO PA in Montreal. In that article, it was stated that the Kosovo delegation participated in these proceedings.
However, this claim (on November 26 in "RT Balkan" and on November 27 in "Gazeta Express") was denied even before it was published in these two media outlets, as the members of the Kosovo delegation had declared on November 25 that they would not be participating in the proceedings of this session, for various reasons.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses these articles as "Fake News".
Fake news
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.
This article was prepared as part of the project 'Countering Disinformation through Innovation and Experimental Learning', supported by the Embassy of the United States of America in Pristina. The article has been verified by the Hibrid.info team and experts engaged to ensure compliance with our fact-checking methodology. This article contains factual verifications, but does not necessarily reflect the views of Hibrid.info or the US Embassy.