Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
Through several articles in Serbian, the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, has been claimed to be a lobbyist or supporter of the idea of "Greater Albania".
The publication was made in several Serbian-language media outlets, which linked the claim to a photograph in which Mamdani is seen making the eagle with his hands.
Why is this content being addressed?
Serbian-language media outlets that have dealt with this issue have not provided any basis for their claim.
“THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK DOES THE EAGLE! Zohran Mamdani's scandalous gesture supports 'Greater Albania!'” is the title of the Serbian language publication.alo.rs"on November 7th."
The article mentions that Mamdani made the eagle during the election campaign. There, the eagle is considered a "symbol of Greater Albania," and represents the double-headed eagle of the Albanian flag.
"Albanians around the world often use it to express cultural identity, but also for provocative purposes," it is said, among other things, in the article.
It was stated there that the event where Mamdani made the eagle was not made public, but only that his photo went viral on social networks.
The same content was published on the portal "republika.rs", but with the title "IT NERVED THE SERBS, MAKES THE ALBANIAN EAGLE! Scandalous behavior of the New York mayor - the new mayor is shocked."
Meanwhile, the newspaper "Srpski Telegraf", owned by the same media house as "republika.rs", published a photo of Mamdan posing as an eagle on the front page of the newspaper on November 8. "Greater Albania lobbyist at the helm of New York", the newspaper's main headline reads. While the subheading asks the question "did he receive millions of dirty money?"
The issue of the eagle symbol by Mamdani has also been published by "courier.rs". This media outlet also called the behavior of the new mayor of New York scandalous, adding in the headline that "The new mayor has chosen sides.". The article states that the eagle symbol is hated by Serbs and is allegedly "used by Albanians to insult and provoke Serbs."
"Zohran was enthusiastically received by Albanians, especially because he openly stood in solidarity with them in this way and especially because he is a Muslim, which made many Albanians happy," the article states, among other things.
The eagle made by Mamdani has also been called scandalous by the media.b92.net".
Continuing narrative:
The narrative of “Greater Albania” is often used by Serbian-language media and Serbian officials to criticize or portray as a threat any event, celebration or initiative that they interpret as an attempt to unite Albanian-populated territories into a single state. This narrative appears particularly in contexts related to Albanian national symbols and identity. Furthermore, this narrative is often present during events that symbolize the strengthening of Albanian-populated ties, such as national holidays, commemorations and official meetings aimed at improving relations and cooperation in the region. The idea of “Greater Albania” allegedly implies the unification of Albanian-populated territories in the region into a single state (see previous coverage by hibrid.info here, here, here, here and here)
Order of facts:
Mamdani had announced a meeting with the Albanian community in the Staten Island district of New York during the campaign on October 6.
"The Albanian Muslim community on Staten Island has always been a force for entrepreneurship and service. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with local leaders to discuss how my administration aims to support small businesses and give every community a real seat at the table," he wrote in X publishing some photos from the meeting.
Two days later, a photo from this meeting was posted by the account "theerzengashi" on Instagram. And one of the photos shows Mamdan doing the eagle with another person.
On November 4, Mamdani won the election in New York. (see here)
After the victory, the photo with the eagle was shared on social media. Its author, Erzen Gashi, in a statement to "top-channel.tv" described the moment Mamdani became an eagle.
"He has Albanian friends, he saw them making the eagle like that. Even the boy in the photo with him said, 'Are we making the eagle for a photo?' And he released it himself," said Gashi.
Hibrid.info searched through the online search engine with the words "Zohran Mamdani Greater Albania (Shqipëria e Madhe)". Search has not led to any credible source which indicates that Mamdani has spoken on this issue.
Analyze:
Several Serbian-language media outlets have published the claim that the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, is a lobbyist or supporter of the idea of "Greater Albania", based solely on a photograph in which he is seen making the eagle symbol with his hands during a meeting with the Albanian community in Staten Island during the campaign.
These media outlets have interpreted the eagle as a symbol of the project for "Greater Albania", without providing any evidence or statements from Mamdani to support this claim.
The moment the photo was taken, according to the author who took it, had no connection whatsoever to any similar claim like that of the Serbian media.
Serbian-language media often use the narrative of the concept of “Greater Albania” to present Albanians as a threat and to politicize symbolic cultural gestures.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info considers this claim to be 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.