Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
It has been claimed that an American general spoke about Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and allegedly praised him, saying that Kosovo needs people like him to counter Russian influence in the Balkans.
"American General Eric Friedman: Kosovo needs people like Albini who stand up to Russian influence in the Balkans," he wrote in a post published on TikTok from the account "rejas04".
The TikTok post features a photo of a soldier and Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
The truth?
After verifying the facts, it turns out that this claim is completely false. First of all, there is no such statement made by any American general. There is no American general named Eric Friedman. Also, the photo used in the claim is of someone else.
Hibrid.info has found that this publication has been circulating for three years. The earliest date that hibrid.info encountered on Facebook with this content was February 8, 2021. Post was made by the Alba Mex account in the group "Self-determination with ♥️".
Also, if searched with the keywords "American General Eric Friedman", or even in the language English, no results are returned indicating that there is an American general with this name. If you search for the name Eric Friedman, The findings lead to the name of American musician Eric Charles “Erock” Friedman..
The publication shows a photo of an official in military uniform. While it is claimed that this is “General Eric Friedman,” after searching through “Google”, it turns out that the person in the photo is former General John Abizaid. The photo was used in several news stories in 2018, when it was announced that then-President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, had appointed Abizaid as ambassador to Saudi Arabia (see here).
Even if it is required in "Google"With the claimed title, no article can be found in any credible media. There are no credible publications even if you search with the claimed words in the quote: "Kosovo needs people like Albin who stand up to Russian influence in the Balkans".
The publication of the "rejas04" account on TikTok, up to the moment of treatment by hibrid.info, has received over 46 thousand clicks. It also has almost 3300 likes and 182 comments.
Analyze:
The TikTok account "rejas04" has published content with the title "American General Eric Friedman: Kosovo needs people like Albini who stand up to Russian influence in the Balkans."
After verifying the facts, it turns out that there is no such statement made by any American general, that there is no American general named Eric Friedman, and that the person in the photo is a former soldier named John Abizaid.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses the publication as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
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.