During the monitoring of the misinformation sphere during the period August 24–29, it was found that fake news, as a category of misinformation, dominated this sphere.
During the monitoring period, fake news was published mainly on Facebook, through profiles and groups such as “Elez Neziraj”, “Sabit Salihu”, “Kosova Sod” and “Lajmi Fundit”. The main topics were related to Kosovo politics and political figures, especially the incumbent Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, as well as former politicians Azem Vllasi and Hashim Thaçi. These contents included fabricated or falsely attributed statements praising Kurti, presenting him as an obstacle to the agreement with Serbia, or claiming that Thaçi will return to Kosovo to overthrow him from power.
The misinformation has been published on online portals and social networks, especially on Facebook, and has mainly dealt with security and electricity in Kosovo. One of the claims, originally published by the Serbian portal Informer, unfoundedly presented an incendiary device thrown towards Serbia as a “terrorist attack from the territory of Kosovo”, without evidence of its origin or authorship. While another false claim on Facebook used the name of KEDS to claim that general reductions in electricity in Kosovo would begin according to the “4:2” schedule, although KEDS had only announced planned and localized outages due to network works.
Conspiracy theories have appeared mainly in media and channels affiliated with the Serbian information space, focusing on the security of the Serbian community and allegations of violence or ethnic discrimination in Kosovo. RT Balkan has promoted an unfounded scenario that the possible trial and conviction of Hashim Thaçi and former KLA commanders could trigger a wave of violence against Serbs, similar to March 2004, while the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia has linked the looting and vandalism of a church in Kamenica to a series of alleged ethnically motivated incidents, although the perpetrators and motive for the case have not yet been determined.
The hoaxes have mainly appeared on social networks, especially on Facebook, through content manipulated with artificial intelligence. The case identified is related to a video published by the website “NewsKs”, which falsely presented US President Donald Trump threatening Serbia with bombing because of Kosovo. The video used the logos of “Daily Mail” and “Reuters” to give a credible appearance to the claim, while verification showed that the audio was generated with AI and that Trump had not made such a statement.
Fake news
An image claiming that former politician Azem Vllasi has declared that Albanians, although “brave and fighters”, have not dared to go to northern Kosovo without Albin Kurti for 20 years has been shared on Facebook. The video was published on Sunday (August 23) by the “Worldksinfo Wki” account, and was later republished as “reels” on Monday (August 24) by the profile, Elez Neziraj. Hibrid.info has sought the original source of the statement, including interviews, articles, videos and other public materials where Azem Vllasi may have made such a statement. From the search of available sources, no primary or reliable source was found that proves that Vllasi uttered this sentence. (here)
Through a post circulating on social media Facebook, it is alleged that American political analyst Janusz Bugajski had made a statement about the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. “Kurti is the first leader of Kosovo who cannot be bought and who puts the interests of the state of Kosovo before his personal interests. For this reason, he is an obstacle for those who want a quick and soft solution with Serbia, which is why he is attacked. Kosovo has a prime minister who is building a state.” The post was found published on August 23 by the “Elez Neziraj” account on Facebook. After verifying the claim, hibrid.info has not found credible evidence confirming that the statement in question was made by Janusz Bugajski. (here)
A piece of content has been published on Facebook claiming that former EU envoy for Kosovo and Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch made a statement regarding the acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The published content claims that Petritsch said: “Albin Kurti is the most prepared politician at the negotiating table. He does not speak with slogans, but with facts and a logic that often puts career diplomats in difficulty. He has brought a new level of state dignity to the region”. This content was published on August 22 by the “Sabit Salihu” Facebook account. After verifying the facts, hibrid.info has found that Wolfgang Petritsch did not make the statement attributed to him in this content. (here)
A post published in the Facebook group “Lajmi Fundit”, from the profile “Kosova Sod”, claims that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi has declared that he will soon return to Kosovo and overthrow Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The image published with the post reads: “NEWS THAT SHOCKS THE WHOLE OF KOSOVO!”, while it is claimed that Hashim Thaçi, in a video, said: "I will come to Kosovo very soon and overthrow Albin Kurti and his team.".” There is no evidence that Hashim Thaçi has stated that he will return to Kosovo “very soon” and that he will “overthrow Albin Kurti.” Furthermore, the link placed as “evidence” in the post leads to a children’s video and is unrelated to the claim. (here)
disinformation
A claim originally published by the Serbian portal Informer on 23 August 2026 states that an incendiary device, described as a “vatrena lopta” (fireball), was launched from Kosovo territory towards Serbia, in the direction of the Brnjak area, with the aim of causing fires. Informer presented the event categorically, describing it in the headline as a “terrorist attack from Kosovo territory”. However, no evidence was presented proving the origin of the device, its authorship or its connection to Kosovo. Kosovo Police denied these claims, stating that there was no use or launch of such a device from Kosovo territory. (here)
An image posted on Facebook claims that KEDS has announced the start of electricity cuts across Kosovo on a “4:2” schedule, starting on August 27. However, this claim is false. KEDS has only announced planned power cuts in certain areas, which are related to maintenance works, investments and other interventions in the network during August 27, 28 and 29. There has been no official announcement from KEDS about a general scheme of “4:2” reductions. (here)
Conspiracy theory
RT Balkan claims that the trial and possible conviction of Hashim Thaçi and former KLA commanders could trigger a wave of violence against Serbs in Kosovo, similar to March 2004. The article bases this mainly on statements by Nasim Haradinaj, on predictions by Ljuban Karan of “revenge against Serbs” and a “strategy of ethnic cleansing”, linking it to March 2004. The alleged scenario of violence and cleansing of Serbs is presented without evidence or facts to support it. (here)
The Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, through a notice published on its official website on August 28, reported on an event in the village of Bushince in Kamenica, where a church was robbed and vandalized, while donations worth around 1000–1100 euros were stolen. In the same notice, the Office for Kosovo presents this event as part of a series of ethnically motivated incidents against the Serbian community in Kosovo. The Kosovo Police have reported the case, but the perpetrators and motive for the crime are still unknown and based on the police report, the case is being investigated. (here)
Lies
With a video generated with artificial intelligence, it was falsely claimed that US President Donald Trump had threatened to bomb Serbia because of Kosovo. Verification shows that the statements do not exist, were not published by the “Daily Mail” or “Reuters” as claimed, and the audio was generated with artificial intelligence. (here)