Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
In an interview with the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the Russian ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandar Bocan-Kharchenko, has made a series of unfounded claims against the Kosovo authorities and the situation of Serbs in the country.
His statements were distributed through various media channels, where the parts about Kosovo from this interview were published and broadcast by RT Balkan and Sputnik Serbia, which was then also reflected in the media in Serbia. (here, here)
Accusations of "silent ethnic cleansing"
The Russian diplomat alleged that the government in Pristina is implementing a strategy of "silent ethnic cleansing" against the Serb population. According to him, administrative measures and the presence of police forces in the north are aimed at expelling Serbs.
"In fact, it is a question - one can speak freely about this - of a gradual and undeclared ethnic cleansing. In other words, of the expulsion of Serbs from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija and the creation of unlivable living conditions for them. All this is being done, we will not remember now what is meant by this, but this occupation of northern Kosovo and Metohija by Pristina has happened, is happening and, unfortunately, we must start from the assumption that it will continue.", said the head of the Russian diplomatic mission in Belgrade.
Although the situation in the north remains fragile, recent reports from EULEX extension and UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) they do not mention any indication of ethnic cleansing.
International diplomatic missions in Kosovo, as well as EU institutions, have criticized the actions of the country's institutions to extend sovereignty to the northern part, inhabited by a Serb majority, for lack of coordination with them, but have not said that such actions lead to ethnic cleansing of any community.
On January 15, 2025, Kosovo Police carried out an operation to close down several parallel municipalities of Serbia, as well as post and tax offices in ten municipalities south of the Ibar River. According to Ministry of Local Government Administration, the goal was to disrupt "illegal services" that operated outside of Kosovo's constitutional system.
The international reaction to this action was immediate, but none of it supports the Russian narrative of "ethnic cleansing."
US Embassy in Pristina described the action as uncoordinated, emphasizing that it "undermines Kosovo's aspirations to join the Euro-Atlantic community."
Officials of EU They called for the issue of parallel structures to be resolved within the Brussels Dialogue, avoiding unilateral actions.
Former German ambassador Jorn Rohde and French diplomacy emphasized that, while agreeing that parallel structures should not function, the path towards their closure must be comprehensive to protect the daily lives of Serbs.
Former Head of UNMIK Mission, Caroline Ziadeh, expressed concern about the impact of the closure of institutions on the lives of individuals, but called for constructive solutions through dialogue, not through accusations of ethnic crimes.
International reactions, including those of the US and the EU, although critical of Pristina's methods, do not support Russia's claims. Based on the facts provided, there can be no question of ethnic cleansing of the Serbian community in Kosovo.
There were such actions even before this January 15th.In fact, there is no data on the decline in the number of Kosovo Serbs, this is also because most of them, especially in northern Kosovo, boycotted the population census process which took place from April 5 to May 24, 2024.
In the face of claims of expulsion, the facts show that Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo enjoy considerable rights. According to Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo (Article 64)The Kosovo Assembly has 120 members, of which 20 seats are reserved for non-majority communities. Of these, 10 seats belong exclusively to the Serb community, guaranteeing them direct participation in legislative power, regardless of their percentage of the population.
This institutional expansion is also confirmed at the local level, where in 2025 ethnic Serb mayors took office in 10 municipalities in Kosovo.
Report of the US Department of State and the Council of Europe confirm the existence of a strong legal framework for the protection of minorities.
Russian skepticism towards the EU in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue
A central point of the Russian ambassador's interview in Belgrade was an attack on the role of Brussels. Botsan-Kharchenko described the EU-facilitated dialogue as "clinically dead," arguing that European officials side with Kosovo. He insisted that a solution should be sought exclusively within the framework of UN Resolution 1244, where Russia enjoys the right of veto.
"This is because the party that has recognized the independence of self-proclaimed Kosovo, in violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 1244, cannot be a mediator in normalization, an honest mediator — as they like to say — between Belgrade and Pristina.", said Botsan-Kharchenko.
Despite Moscow's claims that Kosovo's statehood violates international norms, Opinion Advisor to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 2010 clearly confirmed that the Declaration of Independence did not conflict with general international law or UN Resolution 1244, since the latter did not prohibit the act of declaring the final status. Moreover, the role of the European Union as a mediator is not a “usurpation” as Botsan-Kharchenko claims, but a legitimate mandate given by UN General Assembly through Resolution 64/298, which recognized the EU as a facilitator of the dialogue for peace and stability. This mandate is strengthened by the fact that the EU maintains an official “status-neutral” stance in the negotiation process, precisely because five member states (Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania) still do not recognize Kosovo, making the Brussels format a forum where all political sensitivities are represented, unlike the Russian insistence on blocking through veto in the Security Council.
Analyze:
The Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandar Botsan-Kharchenko, claims that a "silent ethnic cleansing" against Serbs is taking place in Kosovo and that the European Union has failed as a mediator in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, demanding the return of the process to the UN Security Council.
Constitution of Kosovo (Article 64) guarantees 10 reserved seats for Serbs in the Assembly, while international institutions such as EULEX extension, UNMIK and KFOR do not report any expulsion campaigns.
The legal facts confirm that International Court of Justice has declared Kosovo's declaration of independence in accordance with international law, while the EU's mandate as a mediator of dialogue between the two states stems from a legitimate resolution of the UN General Assembly.
As a result, based on the working methodology of hibrid.info, the statements of the Russian ambassador in Belgrade are assessed as "Disinformation".
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.