Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
A piece of content is published claiming that on the eve of the local elections in Tetovo, graffiti with KLA inscriptions has been added to several municipalities with an Albanian majority.
it CONTENT accompanied by three photos showing the inscription "UÇK" in graffiti form, was published on Monday, July 21, by an account named "Lajme Nga Bota".
What is the truth?
Hibrid.info has not found any official announcement confirming the appearance of such graffiti in Albanian-majority municipalities in North Macedonia and, after verifying each photograph separately, has concluded that they were reported to have been made in Kosovo.
Hibrid.info has searched using the search engine "Google", with the keywords "graffiti uçk north macedonia" for the last 30 days, but the results have not shown any articles confirming the claim (see here).
A similar search was conducted on YouTube, but the results of the search did not provide any evidence to support the claim (see here).
While after verification using the automated search program “InVID”, it was found that all three photographs through which the claim was presented were reported as being taken in Serb-majority settlements in Kosovo (see here, here and here).
From Serbian-language media reports, it is learned that two of these photographs show graffiti written in the "Bosnian Neighborhood", in North Mitrovica, on December 2, 2022 (here) and April 16, 2023 (here).
While in the photograph where this inscription is seen on the courtyard doors of a house, it is reported to have been written in the municipality of Rahovec, on May 31, 2023 (see here).
Analyze:
The claim that on the eve of the local elections in Tetovo, graffiti with KLA inscriptions has increased in several Albanian-majority municipalities in North Macedonia is unfounded.
Hibrid.info has found that the photographs used to support this claim were reported as being taken in Kosovo, not North Macedonia.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses the claim as "Manipulation of facts".
Reasoning:
“Factual manipulation” is a rating given to informational content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading consumers of media content about the actual meaning of the facts presented.