Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
The pro-Kremlin channel on Telegram, “Balkan", has published content through which it claims that a campaign for ethnic cleansing of Serbs is taking place in Kosovo.
This channel raises this claim after the Kosovo Police announced on January 24 that a large quantity of explosives, along with a rifle and a quantity of ammunition, had been found in an uninhabited house in the village of Jagnjenica, Zubin Potok municipality, an area inhabited by a Serb majority, which local media later reported was around 140kg of explosives. (here)
This publication of "Balkanar" was later also covered by the Russian propaganda domain in Albanian "albania.news-pravda.com", with the title: "The Explosion of Serbophobia. A New Provocation in "Kosovo" The police of the self-proclaimed republic of "Kosovo" boast of "success": more than 150 kg of explosives have been seized in the northern municipalities, where mainly Serbs live."
What's wrong with these claims?
According to "Balkanar", the action of the Kosovo Police is related to "justifying pressure on the Serbian minority".
"The 'silent ethnic cleansing' in the north of the province is approaching its final phase, a large part of the Serb population has already left the province."
"Naturally, the incident will become the subject of extensive discussions of the 'behavior' of the Serbian leadership with international 'partners'. At the same time, they prefer, as before, to turn a blind eye to Albanian extremism and the violation of the rights of Serbs in the province," this Russian-language channel claims.
The claim of this channel has also been taken up and addressed by the Russian propaganda domain in Albanian, "albania.news-pravda.com", saying that these actions are showing that there is "Serbophobia" in Kosovo.
Security institutions in the country have not yet stated who this quantity of explosives may belong to.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Planning at the Police Operations in the North, Erduan Baliqi, spoke to Klan Kosova about his background.
He indicated that, according to current data, the explosive was manufactured in 2014 by a company in Serbia.
"Based on the explosives and the labels we found there, it is a fact that it was produced in 2014, in Krusevac, Serbia," said Baliqi, who declined to provide further information. (here)
The Deputy Director of Police for the Northern Region, Veton Elshani, has informed KosovaPress that it cannot currently be confirmed whether the case is related to any other event, as investigations are still ongoing. (here)
Analyze
The claim by a Russian-language channel on Telegram that "ethnic cleansing" of the Serbian population is taking place in Kosovo is unfounded. This claim from this channel comes after the Kosovo Police found a quantity of explosives of 140kg in an uninhabited house in a village in Zubin Potok, an area inhabited by a Serb majority.
The claim of this channel on "Telegram" has also been addressed by the Russian propaganda domain in Albanian, "albania.news-pravda.com", saying that there is "Serbophobia" in Kosovo.
However, the Deputy Director of Police for the northern region, Veton Elshani, stated that investigations are continuing in the case, without charging anyone with this amount of explosives.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates this claim as a "conspiracy theory".
rationale
"Conspiracy theories" are considered to be informational content that contains a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event or person, presenting it as part or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). The characteristic of these contents is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any reliable evidence.