Serbian-language media outlet "vesti-online.com" has published an article claiming that the member of parliament from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Xhavit Haliti, has expressed a desire to change borders in the Balkans.
The title of this article, published today (May 20), reads – "Haliti: It would be good for Kosovo to unite with Albania, while Serbia takes over RS."
This title suggests that this is a wish of MP Haliti. However, in fact, Haliti, during an interview for the Kosovar television KTV (May 19), to which the Serbian media also refer, said that he has heard desires for border changes in the Balkans along ethnic lines, and not as claimed in the title of the article by "vesti-online.com".
Link to the article from "vesti-online.com":
Haliti, during an interview given for the show "Desku" on KTV, said that he had heard from various circles about the idea of border changes in the Western Balkans region (see hereAccording to him, these ideas have been presented at various international conferences by internationals, as well as by Serbian and Albanian officials, but without providing further details.
Xhavit Haliti's statement given during the show:
There is an opinion that it would be good for Kosovo and Albania to be united, for Serbia to take the territories of Republika Srpska and become the two largest nations. I have heard these conversations, in very high political circles, both international, I have heard both Serbs and Albanians. At international conferences people are free to speak. It has been talked about, people have the right to talk. It is something that is unacceptable because it changes everything. But after this in Ukraine, if the international community allows something like that those rules established over time for the functioning and co-functioning of states and the non-change of borders, if such a rule is valid for someone, it is also valid for someone else.
Analyze:
The claim made through the title of the "vesti-online.com" article turns out to be a distorted interpretation of the statement.
So Haliti did not say that changing the borders is his desire, as claimed in the Serbian media outlet's headline.
Based on fact checking, this article is rated as "Fact Manipulation".
Reasoning:
The evaluation as "Manipulation of facts" is given to those media reports that use facts known to be correct, but interpret them in a distorted way. These reports typically use inaccurate information to draw inaccurate conclusions or claims, thereby misdirecting consumers' conclusions of media content in relation to the actual meaning of the facts presented.