Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
Last night, on a political debate show on a private television station in Kosovo, an unsubstantiated statement was made regarding Prime Minister Albin Kurti's wife, Rita.
Branislav Krstic, as a public figure and opinion maker, on last night's (November 25) show "Politico" on "Kanal 10" television, has claimed that Rita Augestad Knudsen "lives and works in Belgrade".
"The wife of our prime minister je is employed in Belgrade and je "to live in Belgrade" (adapted: Our Prime Minister's wife is employed in Belgrade and is living in Belgrade), was part of Krstic's statement, made last night in "Politico".
What's wrong with this statement?
Journalist and columnist Krstic's claim that Prime Minister Kurti's wife lives and works in Belgrade is an unsubstantiated statement, as it is not based on facts to support it.
The statement of journalist and columnist Krstic was also rebroadcast by other media outlets in the country, which did not verify his claim with supporting data. (see some here, here, here and here)
What is known about Rita Augestad Knudsen?
Currently, based in the 2024 asset declaration form of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, his wife Rita has declared only one source of income and it is from the government agency "NUPI" (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs).
For clarification, according to public data, the NUPI institute does not have a branch in Belgrade, but has been cooperating with the Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BSCP) for several years.
According to online research conducted by hibrid.info, it appears that the head of BSCP in Belgrade is Igor Bandović. However, according to online research, his name is not associated in any way with the name Rita Augestad Knudsen.
Analyze
Journalist and columnist Branislav Krstic made an unsubstantiated statement last night regarding Prime Minister Albin Kurti's wife, Rita Augestad Knudsen. He claimed that she lives and works in Belgrade.
This statement is unsubstantiated, as he has never provided any arguments for this statement.
Also, the local media have broadcast Krstic's statement without verifying it.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Unverified Content" and "Unsubstantiated Statement".
Reasoning:
Unsubstantiated statement, is the assessment of statements that political and public figures with influence on public opinion make with claims that are not based on facts.
The "Unverified" rating is given to those informative contents that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which could not be verified due to certain circumstances (speed, lack of sources) during the publication of the content.