The president of the "New Kosovo Alliance" (AKR) party, Behgjet Pacolli, has falsely claimed that Montenegro became part of the Open Balkans initiative at the Ohrid summit.
He made this claim yesterday (June 8), through a status published on his official Facebook profile.
Pacolli starts his status like this:
"Today in Ohrid, Montenegro also became part of Open Balkan, while Bosnia was also there as an observer".
Link to Behgjet Pacolli's post on his Facebook profile:
https://www.facebook.com/behgjeti/posts/558054209016808
So, Pacolli claimed that during the meeting of Western Balkan leaders in Ohrid, Montenegro became part of the Open Balkans initiative, while Bosnia and Herzegovina was only in the capacity of an observer.
Black May was part of this summit, through the presence of Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, but it is not part of the initiative, as Pacolli claims. In fact, it was Prime Minister Abazović himself who made it clear that there will be no membership in the Open Balkans during the event organized in Ohrid.
Before leaving, Abazović made clear the reason for his visit to Ohrid through social media posts on Twitter. He said that this visit will serve to meet with strategic partners and share with them the example of Montenegro on the path to EU integration.
"The Western Balkans have a place in the #EU??????????. #MNE?????????? as a leader in integration is ready to be a positive example in this process."
Meanwhile, in posts on another social media platform, "Telegram", Abazović said that Montenegro will not become part of the Open Balkans at the meeting in Ohrid. (see next photo)
The claim made by Pacolli that Montenegro became part of this initiative at the Ohrid summit, while Bosnia and Herzegovina was an observer, also contradicts a statement by Prime Minister Abazović himself. On May 30, he spoke on the state's public media outlet "RTCG" (here), had said that he would only participate in the Open Balkans summit as an observer.
"We are not going to Ohrid to be appointed a member of Open Balkans. We are going as observers, we will consider what is good for the country, if it turns out good, I have nothing against joining the initiative."
A similar claim was made during the day of the organization of this summit by several Albanian-language media outlets, covered by hibrid.info (here).
Analyze:
The claim made by Behgjet Pacolli that at the Ohrid summit, Montenegro became part of the Open Balkans while Bosnia and Herzegovina was in the capacity of an observer, turns out to be untrue.
According to the analysis of verified facts, it turns out that both countries, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, were in the capacity of observers.
While during this summit, no new membership was made, except for the agreements of three states that are existing members (Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania). (see here)
According to this fact check, Behgjet Pacolli's claim is assessed as "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.