In some Serbian-language media, a claim has been made about a coalition between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Bosniak leader of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bakir Izetbegovic.
In these media outlets, articles have been published claiming the existence of plans to liquidate Serbs, which, as they say, come precisely at the moment when a simultaneous attack is being made against Serbia by, as they call it, "the united anti-Serb coalition consisting of Albin Kurti, Andrej Plenkovic and Bakir Izetbegovic."
The allegations do not stop there, adding that this coalition of three Balkan leaders is supported by the West.
Serbian media outlet “24sedam.rs” yesterday (August 11) published an article in which it claims that there is a coalition formed between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Croatian President Andrej Plenkovic and the political representative of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the leader of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Bakir Izetbegovic, to attack Serbia. The narrative of the article is built on the basis of statements made by these Balkan leaders in recent days.
The media outlet in question calls the "attack" on Serbia coordinated.
The fabricated narrative of this medium begins with Kurti's statement to the newspaper "La Republica" where he says that "the risk of a new conflict with Serbia is high". While, it continues with another claim that the Croatian Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, has launched a brutal media campaign against Serbia and the Serbian president. And, recently, according to the Serbian medium, the political leader of Bosniaks in BiH, Bakir Izetbegovic, has also joined this offensive coordination against Serbia, which accuses Russia and Serbia of causing the unrest.
This media outlet tries to justify this claim made through the headline by raising this hypothesis, but which it does not support. The only argument it uses is the allusion that the "plan" of these leaders is coordinated and that, as it is said, "only the naive might not believe this."
The article further states that "Kurti, Plenkovic and Izetbegovic did not accidentally choose the same moment when Serbia is suffering great pressure from the West due to its neutral and sovereign policies."
Link to the article published on the information portal "24sedam.rs":
The article that precedes such claims is the one published on the information portal "24sedam.rs" on August 9, which claims a joint campaign by Croats and Albanians against Serbia.
The article interprets the statements of the Croatian Prime Minister that Serbia does not want to accept their responsibility during the Milošević regime (see here) and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, who warns of a “high risk of conflict.” (“The Republic","Radio Free Europe”And“Reuters")
In the context of the same allegations, the Serbian news portal “Informer.rs” yesterday (August 11) published an article titled “BAKIR AND KURTI ARE SHAKING THEIR WEAPONS! They are calling for war, and trying to blame Serbia for everything!”. The published article claims that the leader of the Bosnian SDA party, Bakir Izetbegović, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, are once again waving their weapons and declaring war on Serbia.
Link to the article published on the information portal "Informer.rs":
https://informer.rs/vesti/politika/726557/bakir-izetbegovic-aljbin-kurti-rat
Also, today (August 12), the Serbian-language media outlet "Alo.rs" published an article claiming that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the leader of Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bekir Izetbegović "want war against Serbia."
This claim by this Serbian media outlet is built on a misinterpretation of statements by Prime Minister Kurti and the Bosniak political leader in BiH, Izetbegovic.
In fact, the statements of these two regional leaders contain concern about inciting a conflict on the part of Serbia, and not coordination for war, as claimed in the article.
Link to the article published in the Serbian newspaper "Alo.rs":
Analyze:
The entire claim of the Serbian media starts from the distorted interpretation of the statements of the Balkan leaders (Kurti, Plenkovic, Izetbegovic). The articles published in the Serbian media "Alo.rs", "24sedam.rs" and "Informer.rs" make a tendentious interpretation of the statements of the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the political leader of the Bosniaks of BiH, Bekir Izetbegovic, aiming to present them as part of a coordination of these three leaders for a joint war against Serbia supported and advocated by the West.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Petkovic, on Croatian Veterans Day and the 27th anniversary of the military police operation "Storm" (Oluja), stated that unfortunately, Serbia does not cooperate even in the prosecution of war criminals.
Izetbegović, in a statement issued on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the founding of the Municipal Committee of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), says that Serbia is arming itself and promoting the "Serbian world" (srpski svet), and emphasizes that Serbia is the cause of tensions by leaving no room for resolving open issues in the Balkans.
On the other hand, Albin Kurti, in interviews given to "La Republica", "Radio Free Europe" and "Reuters", emphasizes the fact that there is a possibility of new tensions and conflicts rising.
In fact, the statements of these three regional leaders contain concerns about inciting a conflict on the part of Serbia and non-cooperation for stability in the region, and not coordination for war, as claimed in the article.
This claim about a coalition between Kurti, Plenkovic and Izetbegovic supported by the West to fight the Serbs, made by the authors of articles published in the relevant media, is unfounded in evidence.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates the Serbian media's claim of a coalition between three leaders to fight the Serbs as a "conspiracy theory".
rationale:
"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.