Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has commented on the statements of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti about the Kosovo Army, making unfounded claims that "these statements are aimed at destabilizing Kosovo and the region."
Stefanović, as written in the press release of the Serbian Ministry of Defense (January 11), attempted to link the warning of destabilization with Kurti's statements made during his visit to the First KSF Land Forces Regiment in Gjilan.
So, Stefanqović only links this claim of destabilization to Kurti's statement where he says that "The Kosovo Army is the dream and legacy of generations over the years who sacrificed the valuable for the precious, gave their lives for freedom."
Some parts of the reaction of the Serbian Minister of Defense – Nebojsa Stefanqovic:
Albin Kurti's statement that the "so-called Kosovo army is the dream of generations that gave their lives for freedom" is another disturbing statement that cannot bring anything good to the Serbian people living in Kosovo and Metohija or the region. It shows once again that Kurti is preparing a new destabilization and that the statements about the readiness for the future continuation of the dialogue are just a bunch of lies.
Link to the Serbian Ministry of Defense statement in Serbian:
This reaction of Stefqnović was also broadcast in a large number of Serbian media. Hibrid.info brings three examples from Serbian media reports regarding this reaction (see here, here and here).
As can be seen in the paragraph where Kurti's statement is presented, no such destabilizing intent is mentioned at all, as Stefaqnović claims.
Furthermore, hibrid.info has analyzed Kurti's entire speech made yesterday (January 11) before members of the KSF at the infantry base in Gjilan, and has not noticed any statement with such a tendency, alleged by the Serbian Minister of Defense.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti's speech at the First KSF Land Forces Regiment in Gjilan published by KlanKosova:
Stefanović tries to link this claim to the riots of March 2004, where there were interethnic clashes, alluding that strengthening the Kosovo Army could bring back such a destabilizing situation. However, Stefanović fails to substantiate this claim with any facts. With this, Stefanović tries to make the Kosovar side responsible for these riots. This claim contradicts the reports made about how these riots began (see here).
Analyze:
Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, through a reaction, aims to raise accusations against the Kosovo authorities for, as he has stated, plans to destabilize the security situation. He tries to link these accusations to several statements by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, but which do not substantiate the claims made.
Based on this treatment of the facts, hibrid.info evaluates Stefanović's claim as a "Conspiracy Theory".
Reasoning:
"Conspiracy theories" are media reports that disseminate a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event, or person, presenting it as part of or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). A characteristic of these reports is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any credible evidence.