Representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) claim that the robberies in Orthodox churches in Kosovo have ethnic and religious motives, but without being based on any argument or fact.
These claims were expressed through a press release distributed to the media by KOS, which, among other things, states:
The latest wave of violence is not just, as Kosovo institutions like to say, part of everyday life, which also includes looting of mosques. Attacks on Serbian temples are ongoing and mostly have an ethnic and religious background because they are directed specifically against a community whose presence undoubtedly disturbs someone.
The Diocese of Raska and Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in their statement, mentioned several cases of armed robberies and damage caused to Orthodox churches and monasteries in Kosovo, but without providing any argument to support the claim that these robberies are ethnically and religiously motivated attacks.
Robberies that are called attacks, KOS officials have called as such, there are facts that prove neither the ethnic nor religious affiliation of the persons who committed them.
Link to the SOC statement in Serbian and English:
https://eparhija-prizren.com/sr/saopstenja/saopshtene-eparhije-rashko-prizrenske/
The phenomenon of robberies of religious objects in Kosovo has been increasing in recent years. The robberies are mainly taking place in mosques, but also in Catholic and Orthodox churches. In most cases, the people involved in the robberies manage to take sums of money or valuables.
Links to some reports of looting in mosques and Catholic churches:
https://www.facebook.com/115364786994262/videos/259613379041565
https://video.gjirafa.com/embed/vidhet-xhamia-ne-prishtine
https://www.facebook.com/gazetadrenica/posts/2151060451591439/
https://www.facebook.com/Veriuinfo/posts/1785353121593195/
https://mediafokus.info/vidhet-arka-ne-xhamine-e-madhe-ne-gjilan/
Analyze:
The claims made by the Serbian Orthodox Church that the objects of this religion in Kosovo are being attacked under the pretext of intimidation and have an ethnic and religious background are unfounded. These claims made in the SOC statement are not based on any argument or fact, since nothing is known about the identity of the robbers. Also, the robberies that are called attacks in this statement were intended to steal money or valuables, and not just destroy them. The phenomenon of robberies and thefts of religious objects in Kosovo has been occurring for some time now also in those of the Muslim religion (mosque, tekke, etc.), as well as in Catholic churches, the religion to which Albanians belong. So this greatly weakens the claim that the robberies of religious objects have a political, religious or ethnic background. For this reason, hibrid.info evaluates this claim by the SOC 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.