Prepared by: Festim Rizanaj
During the period 05–11 January 2026, media and social networks in Kosovo were characterized by the dominance of fake news, which was widely distributed.
During this period, several fake news items were identified, mainly distributed on Facebook, TikTok and suspicious online pages, which focused on political developments following the early parliamentary elections of December 28, 2025, as well as education and security issues. The misinformation content included fabricated statements attributed to international figures such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and journalist Richard Quest, false claims about the political positions of publicist Baton Haxhiu, as well as false news about the postponement of classes due to strikes and about alleged assessments by the US Embassy about the situation in northern Kosovo.
The disinformation was published mainly on Facebook and was characterized by the use of fabricated or manipulated statements by local and international political figures, aiming to influence public opinion and tense up the political discourse; they included the false attribution of a statement to President Vjosa Osmani about the victory of the Vetëvendosje Movement, unfounded claims by the Russian ambassador to Serbia about a “silent ethnic cleansing” of Serbs in Kosovo, as well as the distortion of a statement by Faton Peci regarding the conditioning of the president’s election and the creation of a parliamentary group by GUXO, which were refuted by factual verifications and official sources.
Clickbait was mainly published by online portals and media pages on Facebook, using sensational or vague headlines that did not accurately reflect the content of the articles. These included an alarming headline about drinking water from “Kosova-sot.info”, which suggested a general health risk, although the IKSHPK notice was of a recommendatory nature and limited to specific cases; publications that presented as fact a statement by a journalist about the candidacy of Vjosa Osmani from LVV, without clarifying that it was a quote; and a misleading headline from “illyrianinfo.com” about the resignation of the PDK chairman, which in reality referred only to a local branch of the party in the diaspora, creating a false impression of developments at the central level.
The scams appeared mainly through SMS and TikTok content, using names of institutions, current events and artificial intelligence technologies to deceive citizens. The cases included sending fake SMS on behalf of the “eKosova” platform with the aim of paying fines through suspicious links and collecting bank details, as well as publishing AI-generated videos that falsely presented themselves as real footage of floods in Pristina or as TV news reports about finding gold in Kosovo. Despite marking some content as AI-generated, they achieved great reach and risked misinforming the public, demonstrating a growing trend of digital and visual fraud.
The fake news/hoax was published on Facebook through an image generated with artificial intelligence, which falsely claimed that acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti and President Vjosa Osmani were seen drinking coffee together in a public setting, presenting this as an informal meeting and a sign of institutional cooperation, although factual verifications confirmed that the image was not authentic.
The conspiracy theory was spread through a statement by the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs in Serbia, Milovan Drecun, who claimed that the militarization of Pristina, including the equipment with the OMTAS anti-tank missile system, poses a direct threat to Serbs and suggested that Kosovo is preparing for a military landing with the involvement of NATO, especially Croatia and Albania, without providing any evidence or facts to support these claims.
Fake news
Through a Facebook post, it is alleged that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer congratulated the acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, on his victory in the early parliamentary elections of December 28, 2025, describing him as a “world-class leader”. The post was made by the account “Albert Shabani” on January 1, 2026, and was later republished by several other accounts and pages. Verification by Hibrid.info shows that such a statement does not exist and has not been published in any official source or official account. It has not been found on the official government accounts of both countries nor on social media. (here)
An image showing the portrait of British journalist Richard Quest has been published, with a caption claiming to be a statement by him on the results of the snap elections in Kosovo. This content was published on Tuesday (December 30, 2025) on Facebook, by an account named “Faton Faton”. The claim was also found published on TikTok by accounts named “f.k1956” and “andromaka35”. Hibrid.info found that Quest’s alleged statement is not confirmed by credible sources or on the journalist’s official accounts. (here)
A content is published claiming that publicist Baton Haxhiu has stated that even after the victory of the Vetëvendosje Movement in the early parliamentary elections of December 28, this political entity will not be able to form a government. The article was published on December 29, 2025 on the domain “topm1.net”. Hibrid.info has not found facts from reliable sources that would confirm Haxhiu’s alleged statement. (here)
Through a TikTok post, it has been claimed that the start of the second semester of school in Kosovo has been postponed until January 19. According to a post by “bbvip.Kosova4” on January 7, the postponement was made “due to teacher strikes and heavy rain.” The Ministry of Education has announced the postponement until January 12 due to flooding. There is no official decision on another postponement or teacher strikes over salaries. (here)
Through a TikTok post, it was claimed that the US Embassy in Kosovo has praised the work of Albin Kurti's government in the north. "Safe visits and free travel for the first time in 25 years," is a quote placed on the image that shows the United States Embassy building in Kosovo and a photograph of acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Verifications show that there are no official statements or reports that confirm this claim, which has been previously denied by hibrid.info. (here)
disinformation
A content (photo) has been published on Facebook from the page “Gazeta Momenti” (archive) in which the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, appears. The description of this content reads “President Osmani rejoices in the victory of VV”, while the caption reads “VJOSA OSMANI – VV’S VICTORY, FOR THE GOOD OF KOSOVO”. After fact-checking by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that Osmani has never made such a statement. (here)
The Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandar Bocan-Kharchenko, claims that a “silent ethnic cleansing” of Serbs is taking place in Kosovo and that the European Union has failed as a mediator of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, demanding the return of the process to the UN Security Council. The Constitution of Kosovo (Article 64) guarantees 10 seats reserved for Serbs in the Assembly, while international institutions such as EULEX, UNMIK and KFOR do not report any expulsion campaign. Legal facts confirm that the International Court of Justice has declared Kosovo’s declaration of independence in accordance with international law, while the EU’s mandate as a mediator of the dialogue between the two states stems from a legitimate resolution of the UN General Assembly. (here)
An image has been published showing Faton Peci, co-chair of the GUXO party, and also mayor of South Mitrovica, with a caption claiming to condition the election of the president of Kosovo. “Faton Peci, if Albini does not give his votes to Vjosa Osmani, the GUXO list will leave the self-determination with 15 deputies, we will form our own parliamentary group,” the caption reads. This content was published on Thursday (January 8) on Facebook, by a page called “TV Prishtina”. Hibrid.info found that a statement by Peci about the possibility of creating a parliamentary group from the GUXO party was manipulated in this content. (here)
Clickbait
“NIPHK calls for caution: Boil water before use”, is the title of the article published on Tuesday (January 6) by the information portal “Kosova-sot.info”. After clicking on the article, there is a notice from the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo (NIPHK), which came out with a recommendation for citizens to show increased care for their safety and health, after heavy rainfall that has brought flooding to some parts of the country, due to the possible impact on public health. In this notice, among other things, it is stated that “citizens who are supplied with water from unprotected wells (for safety reasons from a bacteriological point of view), are recommended to boil the water before use or to use alternative sources for safe water supply”. (here)
Content has been published with the caption “Osmani is the VV candidate for president, the agreement has been reached”. The content was published on Tuesday (January 6), as images on Facebook, by the media pages “FrontOnline.com” and “Ballkani.info”. One post only shows the portrait of Vjosa Osmani, the president of Kosovo, while the other shows a photo of the president with the acting prime minister, Albin Kurti. The claim that an agreement has been reached for Vjosa Osmani to run as the presidential candidate from LVV is a statement by journalist Leonard Kërçuki. However, in the headlines of some media, this information has been published as a factual statement, without clarifying that it is a quote. (here)
The portal “illyrianinfo.com” published on Thursday (January 8) an article titled “LATEST: PDK Chairman Resigns”, which was also shared on its social media page, accompanied by an image showing the symbols of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). However, after clicking on the article, it is clarified that the news is not about the central leadership of the party, but about Shahin Dervishaj, chairman of the PDK branch in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Therefore, the title is unclear and misleading, as it uses general wording without specifying the country, while the real information is limited to the local level of the party in the diaspora. (here)
Lies
Kosovo citizens are receiving fraudulent SMS messages falsely claiming to be sent by the “eKosova” platform, informing them of a traffic fine and inviting them to pay it via a suspicious link (“ekosova.top/gov”). The message is sent from a private email address, not from an official source. Verification by hibrid.info has confirmed that this SMS is not authentic and that the link does not belong to the official “eKosova” platform, which operates only on the “ekosova.rks-gov.net” domain. Website identification platforms assess this site as suspicious. Further investigation shows that the website also displays fines for fictitious vehicle license plates and then requests bank details for payment, which proves that this is a fraud attempt with the aim of stealing financial data. (here)
A video has been released showing footage of flooding caused by rain, claiming to be from Pristina. The content was posted on TikTok on Wednesday (January 7) by an account named “edmonndk”. Hibrid.info found that the video was generated by artificial intelligence (AI). (here)
A video on TikTok that claims to be a TV news report about a citizen reporting to authorities that he had found 17 kilograms of gold in a village in Kosovo is generated by artificial intelligence. The content on TikTok is labeled as AI-generated. This is also confirmed by online platforms for detecting content generated by artificial intelligence. Despite this, the video has received over a million views and has comments, which may indicate that a portion of the audience may perceive the claim as true. (here)
Fake news/Hoax
Through a post in the form of an image showing the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and President Vjosa Osmani, it is claimed that they were seen drinking morning coffee together in a public setting. In this post published on Friday (January 9) by the “Shqip-Al” Facebook page, it is further claimed that this is an informal meeting, which is seen by part of the public opinion as a sign of institutional cooperation between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Presidency. Hibrid.info confirmed that the image is generated with artificial intelligence. (here)
Conspiracy theory
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs in Serbia, Milovan Drecun, in an interview given to Radio Television of Serbia, stated that “the militarization of Pristina is a direct threat to the security of Serbs in Kosovo”. Drecun commented on the equipping of Kosovo with the OMTAS anti-tank missile system, adding that these are not defensive, but offensive capabilities. According to him, Pristina is preparing for a military landing and wants interaction with NATO members, above all with Croatia and Albania. Drecun in no case provides facts that would support this claim. (here)