Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
The Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian government, Petar Petkovic, has made a statement regarding the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević and the opposition protests there, attempting to link them to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
Petkovic claims that Albin Kurti sees the government of Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian List as the main obstacle to his goals, so he says he supports the opposition protests in Belgrade as a way to influence political developments in Serbia. (here)
According to Petkovic, Kurti has unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the participation of the Serb List in the elections, presenting this as part of his efforts to weaken Belgrade's influence in Kosovo and create more favorable conditions for the recognition of Kosovo's independence from Serbia.
What happened and what was said?
On January 28, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević resigned amid a wave of protests over the tragedy in Novi Sad, announcing at a conference in Belgrade that President Aleksandar Vučić had accepted his decision. (here)
For more than two months, thousands of students and citizens in Serbia have been demanding accountability for the November 1 tragedy in Novi Sad, where 15 people lost their lives when a train station shelter collapsed, while, following Vučević's resignation, student representatives said their demands remain unmet and warned of new protests.
The Vetëvendosje Movement held its next rally in Theranda last night (January 28), where Albin Kurti commented on the resignation of Miloš Vučević, linking it to the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. He emphasized that in the past, prime ministers resigned in Kosovo, while now it is Serbian prime ministers who resign.
"There in Brussels they constantly pressure me with the signatures of my predecessors, Mustafa and Thaçi, but they avoid the agreement with me because they don't want to sign. When all the former governments were once developing the dialogue in Brussels, we had Serbia getting stronger and an unstable Kosovo getting weaker. With our government and the dialogue that we are leading, we have an unstable Serbia and a Kosovo that is rising and getting stronger. You remember how prime ministers used to resign in Kosovo, and now prime ministers are resigning in Serbia.". (here)
Regarding the resignation of Serbian Prime Minister Vučević, Serbian media have published an article regarding Kosovo media reporting, which claims that Albanian media in Pristina are celebrating the "surrender of Vučić" and interpret this as an indication that Albin Kurti is a supporter of the opposition and the creator of unrest and chaos in Serbia.
However, Serbian media do not provide any facts to support the claim that Albin Kurti is involved in the student protests in Serbia.
Disinformation linking protests in Serbia to Albin Kurti
For more than two months, thousands of students and citizens in Serbia have been demanding that those involved in the tragedy in Novi Sad, where on November 1 last year, 15 people lost their lives when a train station shelter collapsed, be held criminally and politically accountable. In this regard, Serbian media and officials have created disinformation correlations linking Albin Kurti to the protests in Serbia, attempting to present that he is supporting the opposition and the unrest there and that he is acting as an influential factor in the political and social situation in Serbia. For this, hibrid.info has published an analysis of these narratives, which can be found in this veggie.
Recently, regarding Kurti's alleged involvement in student protests in Serbia, and his alleged support for them, Serbian students based in North Mitrovica have recommended that students in Serbia beware of Albin Kurti, emphasizing that he supports them and his goal is only one – to divide Serbia. (here)
Even the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has implicated news agencies from Kosovo and Croatia without evidence as instigators of the protests in Serbia. In a statement to "Happy" television", Vučić said that a revolution is being attempted in Serbia, and that foreign instructors from the West are behind the protests, blaming foreign news agencies, including Croatian and Kosovo Albanian ones, without providing evidence.
"It is about a combination of the interests of several Western and regional news agencies, especially Croats and Albanians from Kosovo."
Despite the claim, Vučić has not mentioned any name of any media outlet from Kosovo.