A Facebook account with around 5,600 followers, named "Lule Gjeli", published yesterday (March 12) an image of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs and US Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar.
The image contains the caption "His wife received $3.4 million from the Serbian Government in 2023.".
After verification by hibrid.info, no facts were found to prove the above claim.
Based on some of the commenters and the number of shares (44) as of the time of checking this publication, hibrid.info estimates that the claim can be interpreted as true by readers.
Link to the image published by the "Lule Gjeli" account:
In this publication, it is seen that some commentators have taken for granted the claim that the Serbian state allocated $3.4 million to the wife of Deputy Assistant Secretary Escobar. (see photo below)
Hibridi.info has researched through the search engine "Google", with the keywords "3.4 million dollars elizabeth escobar serbia".
Research has yielded data for an art exhibition by Gabriel Escobar's wife, Elizabeth Escobar, opening in October 2022 (here) at the Serbian Embassy in Washington and another opened at the Consulate General of Serbia in New York, two months later (December 2022). (see here and here)
None of these announcements published by the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs provide information about the details that would clarify the financial issues of the exhibitions in question.
Analyze:
The claim that the wife of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs and the US Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, was allocated a sum of $3.4 million is not sustainable.
Hibrid.info has verified the facts, but has not found any evidence on which the claim in question is based. The data found indicates art exhibitions opened by Elizabeth Escobar, at the Serbian Embassy in Washington and at the Consulate General of the Serbian state in New York, during 2022, for which there is no information about financial matters.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
Rating:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.