Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
"The head of the VV's foreign affairs committee misses the mark in the debate, says that Kosovo has diplomatic missions in Greece and Poland," is the title of a ITEM published by the portal "Insider.org"on January 24th.
The article in the content claims that during a television debate, the candidate for deputy of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Arbëreshë Kryeziu-Hyseni, has shown a lack of knowledge in the field of foreign policy. In the previous legislature, this deputy was the chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.
This claim by the portal "Insajderi.org" was later published by other portals such as "Periscope.com""Demokracia.com","FrontOnline.net”And“EconomyOnline.com".
What does the article say?
The article was based on Kryeziu-Hyseni's confrontation with the candidate for deputy from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Edon Cana, on the show "Compass" on "ATV" television. Cana said during the debate that Kosovo does not have diplomatic missions in Greece and Poland, contradicting Kryeziu-Hyseni's claim.
Furthermore, "insajderi.org" in the article also mentioned the fact that the social media pages of Kosovo's missions in Greece and Poland do not state that they are diplomatic missions, but that they are consulates (in Poland) and Offices of Interest (in Greece).
Hibrid.info has monitored the debate and confirmed that Kryeziu-Hyseni said that "Kosovo has opened new diplomatic missions and has begun building bilateral relations with various countries in the European Union."
Asked which missions she was talking about, she said: "We recently have a mission in Athens, we have one in Poland, we have one in the Czech Republic, and many other countries that have opened and work is underway to soon open other international missions of ours" (Video)
What does the law say?
Law on the Foreign Service of the Republic of Kosovo in the definitions it defines the term "diplomatic mission".
The law also recognizes consular missions, which include consulates general, consulates, sub-consulates and consular offices. Special missions are also recognized. Both fall under SUBCHAPTER II "Diplomatic Missions".
What are Kosovo's relations with Greece and Poland?
Kosovo is not recognized as a state by Greece. But in 2021, Kosovo's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gërvalla, told the Kosovo office in Greece that its status will be upgraded from an office for economic affairs to a so-called interest with access to other areas, including political ones. And the Facebook page “Kosovo in Greece”, which was also mentioned by “insajderi.org”, has exactly this status within the intro of the page. The head of this office is Fitim Gllareva. (MFA announcement)
Meanwhile, on May 9, 2024, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, the Consulate General of Kosovo in Poland was inaugurated. It is led by Drilon Gashi. (official announcement)
Analyze:
Through an article, the media outlet "insajderi.org" claimed that the VV candidate for deputy, Arbëreshë Kryeziu-Hyseni, showed a lack of knowledge in the field of foreign policy when she said that Kosovo has diplomatic missions in Greece and Poland. According to the report, Kosovo has a consulate in Poland and an interest office in Greece.
But the definition of “diplomatic mission” according to the Law on Foreign Service of Kosovo includes embassy or any other office who represents Kosovo in another country.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this article as "Disinformation" and "Unverified Content".
Reasoning:
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.
The "Unverified" rating is given to those informative contents that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which could not be verified due to certain circumstances (speed, lack of sources) during the publication of the content.