Several Serbian media outlets have published a series of articles on the topic of the construction of a military base in Mitrovica.
In almost all articles that deal with this topic, statements have been made by Serbian officials, who have fabricated scenarios about, as they claim, the danger that the construction of this base poses to the Serbian community in the north.
The head of the Kosovo committee in the Serbian Parliament, Milovan Drecun, has made a statement to Serbian media, claiming without evidence that the base that is expected to be built will serve against the Serbian community in the north.
Drecun's statement to Serbian state television RTS, translated into Albanian:
"They will have training grounds, they will have observation stations and they will be able to carry out a kind of rapid crossing from that area, meaning rapid penetration and deployment in northern Kosovo up to the administrative line with central Serbia will prevent the possible supply of aid from Belgrade to the endangered Serbian population."
Link to the RTS article and chronicle:
In addition to RTS, the same article was also distributed by a number of other Serbian-language media outlets in Serbia and Kosovo.
Links to the article shared by several other media outlets:
Drecun's claims about the scenarios of this military base are not supported by any facts or arguments. NATO officials themselves, who have their own mission in Kosovo (KFOR), have not argued this claim of Drecun. A NATO official, in a statement to the Serbian-language media outlet "kossev.info", said that this organization supports the construction of this base.
NATO statement to kossev.info, translated into Albanian:
"Our position on the Kosovo Security Force has been clear and consistent. We support the development of the Kosovo Security Force according to its original mandate, that is, a civil protection force. Following the change in mandate, we are reviewing our level of engagement in the KSF."
Link to the publication of this statement on kossev.info:
The news about the construction of this military base became current when the Municipal Assembly of South Mitrovica approved a request made by the Ministry of the Kosovo Security Force to grant it long-term use of a 191-hectare property in a place called "Kodra e Cërrnusha" located near this city.
Neither the mayor of Mitrovica, Agim Bahtiri, nor the former Deputy Minister of Defense, Enver Dugolli, have stated that this base aims to implement strategies that are detrimental to the Serbian people living in that area, as Drecun claims.
Links to the statements of Bahtir and Dugolli, published in an article on kallxo.com:
Analyze:
Based on the analysis of the audit of the claim made by Milovan Drecun, it turns out that this Serbian official has created scenarios about the purpose of this military base, not based on facts. Moreover, Drecun's claims come at a time when the plan of this base has not even become clear.
For this reason, hibrid.info evaluates this statement by Drecun as a "Conspiracy Theory" and "Unverified Content".
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.