Articles titled and captioned “Kurti 'Surrenders': We are considering the possibility of using US gas” and “Kurti opens the door to American gas: We are considering the possibility".
Articles with these two titles were published on Wednesday (July 15) by several media outlets (here, here, here, here, here, here and here).
Both of these headlines imply that Kurti has changed his stance on the use of American gas.
But what is the truth?
The contents of the articles reported the statement of Albin Kurti, the acting Prime Minister, without mentioning any change in the previous position.
Hibrid.info has researched to find out what the position of the current Prime Minister was regarding American gas. Based on a previous treatment, it was found that the invitation to Kosovo to join the American project came from the Chargé d'Affaires at the Embassy of the United States of America (US) in Kosovo, Anu Prattipati (see here).
Practice in an editorial published on June 4, on the path towards energy security and long-term partnership with America, wrote that Kosovo is failing to meet the growing demands for energy supply.
She had clearly stated that Kosovo should join the American natural gas projects planned across the Balkans because this would constitute yet another link in the growing economic partnership between the US and Kosovo.
The American diplomat conveyed the message that Kosovo must act quickly to realize this partnership because building the necessary infrastructure will take time.
Considering the debates caused in the public by this call, hibrid.info checked to find a possible response from the country's executive to this call.
The investigation found that two days later, in an interview with Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK), when asked about Prattipat’s proposal, Kurti said that the government’s vision is for Kosovo to cooperate with Albania on the liquefied gas terminal in Vlora. He stated that there is no need for such infrastructure to be built in Kosovo, as the gas imported at the Vlora terminal can be converted into electricity and sent to Kosovo through the 400 kV interconnection line with Albania (see here).
Kurti's direct quote on June 6:
"Now you have in mind that we have a cooperation with Albania, with the Albanian Power Exchange Alpex and we want to be increasingly integrated in the electro-energy aspect in the Republic of Albania. Therefore, our vision is that we will be together with Albania in the liquefied gas terminal in Vlora. So, the Republic of Kosovo is willing to invest in the terminal in Vlora and imagine a situation where, for example, we have a percentage of shares as the Republic of Kosovo in the terminal in Vlora and there liquefied gas can come from abroad, be converted into electricity and with the 400 KV interconnection, which we have with Albania, we can bring it to us. We do not need to bring it to Kosovo. We bring it to Vlora and from Vlora we receive it, where the terminal in Vlora can be a place where Albania and Kosovo are together in terms of liquefied gas, which is imported, comes from abroad.”
Although this position was also repeated and clarified by Artane Rizvanolli, acting Minister of Economy, who had stated that the acting Government of Kosovo is not against American gas (see here), Kurti's proposal for Kosovo's inclusion in the liquefied gas terminal in Vlora was interpreted by some media as opposition to American gas (see here, here and here).
To find out if we are dealing with a change in Kurti's position, as presented in the titles and captions of the contents analyzed in this treatment, hibrid.info checked the rest of the articles. The texts explain that Kurti has announced that the country is considering the possibility of using liquefied gas from the United States, through a cooperation with Albania in the Vlora thermal power plant. This is also confirmed by the video material taken from the speech during the ceremony of laying the cornerstone for the construction of a solar park with a capacity of 105 megawatts, in Kramovik, Rahovec (see here).
Which means that Kurti's statement does not represent a change in stance towards American gas, but rather a position of the Government on how Kosovo can be involved in the use of this energy source, through cooperation with Albania and the terminal in Vlora.
Headlines suggesting that Kurti has “surrendered” or that he has “opened the door” to American gas create the impression of a political turn in his stance, although his statement refers to a possibility that was discussed earlier and does not contain a change of position on energy policy.
Analyze:
The headlines and captions of the articles create the impression that Albin Kurti has changed his stance on the use of American gas, presenting his statement as a "surrender" or as a new step towards accepting this possibility.
However, the content of the articles shows that Kurti has not changed his previous position, but has reiterated that Kosovo is considering the possibility of using liquefied gas from the United States of America through cooperation with Albania and the gas terminal in Vlora.
His stance is related to how Kosovo can be included in this energy project and not to a confirmed change in previous policy.
Therefore, based on its work methodology, hibrid.info considers content with these titles and captions as "Clickbait".
Reasoning:
“Clickbait” is considered to be informational content whose title is general and does not disclose the location of the event, context and relevance. Such texts and articles aim to attract the attention of the audience with sensational headlines with misleading consequences, which do not accurately clarify the content of the article. “Clickbait” headlines are mainly made to attract readability in the case of media publications and/or to earn from clicks in the case of commercial publications.