Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
Kosovo media reporting on the Swiss newspaper "Neue Zurcher Zeitung" article about unofficial meetings between representatives of Kosovo and Serbia in Switzerland revealed the misinterpretation of international sources and the construction of narratives that are not directly based on the original text.
The “NZZ” article did not report on direct meetings between specific officials, but on the existence of a format of informal talks, where, according to sources, ministers from both sides also regularly participated. However, the incorrect linking of paragraphs and the selective interpretation of the content led some media in Kosovo to present this reporting as evidence of secret meetings between specific individuals, distorting the original meaning of the text.
This case serves as an illustrative example of how the lack of careful verification and partial reading of serious sources can produce disinformation. The following analysis aims to examine where this deviation occurred, how it spread in the media in Kosovo, and why a clarification was needed from the Swiss newspaper's own editorial staff.
Let's start from the beginning:
On Tuesday (January 6), the Swiss media outlet "Neue zurcher zeitung"reported on unofficial meetings between the Kosovar and Serbian sides in Solothurn, Switzerland, in December last year.
According to this article, these meetings are not the first, as the media outlet in question claims to have reported on the same ones in 2022.
The article states that until now, it has not been known in Switzerland that ministers from both sides, namely from Kosovo and Serbia, have regularly participated in these meetings.
The article, which states in the introduction that “a senior Kosovar politician and a senior Serbian politician walk together towards their hotel, after finishing dinner, through the old town of Solothurn”.
"According to informed sources, this scene was observed on the sidelines of the confidential talks that Switzerland regularly organizes between the two sides in the conflict. In public, harsh voices dominate on both sides, while politicians rarely win electoral support with conciliatory tones. But in this small Swiss town, representatives of both sides spoke to each other with such intimacy that it surprised even the best experts on the conflict.", the "NZZ" article writes, among other things.
Further, in the second paragraph, the article also mentions the name of the acting Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, but also of the Serbian Foreign Minister, Marko Djuric, among the representatives of the respective states at these meetings.
But, let's move on to a more detailed examination of this article and its broadcasts in the media in Kosovo.
What followed from this reporting?
Upon publication of this article, many media outlets in Kosovo picked up and rebroadcast it. However, some of them made connections between its paragraphs.
Citing the NZZ article, several media outlets reported that there had been a meeting between Bislim and Djuriqi. The article, mainly citing sources, reported that it had recently been learned in Switzerland that “ministers from both sides regularly participated in these meetings,” but without mentioning names. In the following sentence, the article states that “among the participants” of these meetings were Bislim and Djuriqi, but without saying whether or not there had been a meeting between them.
Since the original NZZ article did not state at any point that a meeting between them had taken place, the Swiss newspaper's editorial staff was forced to supplement the article with a denial of such a meeting.
The paragraph has been supplemented where it says that in general, ministers from both the Kosovo and Serbian sides participated in the meetings.
"However, the latter two have not met each other directly," is the sentence that was added to the original "NZZ am Sonntag" article in the meantime.
How did the media in Kosovo initially report?
"Gazeta Nacionale" published an article on Tuesday (January 6) with this title: ""Bislimi and Djuriqi spoke so familiarly that everyone was surprised": Swiss newspaper reports secret meetings in Solothurn" (here).
"VOX Kosova" published an article on Tuesday (January 6) with this title: "AWAY FROM THE CAMERAS, Bislimi secretly met with Djuric in Switzerland" (here).
"Gazeta Express" published an article on Tuesday (January 6) with this title: "The newspaper "NZZ" reveals the secret meetings of Bislim with Djuric in Solothurn, Switzerland: Nothing was heard for years" (here).
"Paparazzi" published an article on Tuesday (January 6) with this title: "Swiss newspaper "NZZ" reveals secret meetings between Bislim and Djuric in Solothurn" (here).
What did the incumbent government and the Vetevendosje Movement say?
Acting Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has called the Swiss newspaper's article's misinterpretation intentional, while denying "secret and clandestine meetings" with Djuric. He has also threatened to file a complaint/lawsuit over the articles.
"Numerous disinformation and propaganda from portals in Kosovo were spread yesterday, intentionally misinterpreting an article by the Swiss newspaper NZZ. It is regrettable how easily and quickly disinformation is created and distributed with the aim of falsely informing public opinion and misleading the truth. As Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo or in any other capacity, I have never had “secret and confidential” meetings, much less with characters like Marko Djuric. Not even the serious Swiss newspaper NZZ alluded to such a meeting in its article since its publication at any point, but it was the unprofessional portals and unprofessional journalists who falsely reported in that way, misusing the article by NZZ. I will address the numerous disinformation distributed intentionally through a complaint/lawsuit to the relevant institutions", he wrote on Facebook.
Even Klisman Kadiu, advisor to the acting Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, has denied that there was a meeting between his boss and Djuric.
"First Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, also the chief negotiator in this mandate, has not had any 'secret' meetings in the dialogue process, much less with Marko Djuric," he said in a Facebook post.
Mimoza Kusari, former head of the Vetëvendosje Movement Parliamentary Group, also denied reports of a meeting between Bislim and Djuriq in a Facebook post (here).
"Fake news on NZZ, fake news on several Kosovar platforms. The zeal for spreading fake news remains the same, despite clear facts that completely refute this narrative. This is not journalism, it is irresponsibility.", wrote Kusari.
Media in Kosovo update articles
After the update from the newspaper "NZZ am Sonntag", which explicitly states that there was no direct meeting between Bislim and Djuric, "Nacionale" and "VOX Kosova" have also acted similarly.
“VOX Kosova” even contacted the journalist of the article, Tobias Gafafer. He, in a written response, stated that the article “wrote that ministers from both sides regularly participated in these meetings and that Bislimi and Djuric were among them”. However, he emphasized that “it did not write that they met with each other” (here)
Identification of participants
“VOX Kosova” meanwhile published another article that appears to complement the NZZ report, through which it claims to have obtained the photograph linked to the Swiss newspaper article. This photograph, reportedly dating from mid-November 2023, shows the former head of the Vetëvendosje Parliamentary Group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, as well as Serbian politician Sanda Rashkovic Iviq. (here)
In addition, another photo was published identifying other participants. From the Kosovo side, in addition to Kusari-Lila, Fitore Pacolli of Vetëvendosje, Bernard Nikaj of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Lutfi Haziri of the Democratic League of Kosovo and Ardian Gjini of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo are also seen.
Behind Fitore Pacolli is Serbian Minister of European Integration, Nemanja Starović, a member of the party of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Dalibor Jevtić of the Serbian List was also part of the meeting.
Kusari-Lila, through a reaction on her Facebook page, did not deny the authenticity of the published photograph, but emphasized that in that case he "represented and defended" the official positions of the Government of Kosovo.
"Furthermore, the attempt to separate the representatives of the VETËVENDOSJE! Movement from the other participants clearly shows that the aim of the reports is to build a false narrative, which has been attempted to be imposed on the public for years.", she wrote.
Where did the media in Kosovo go wrong?
The January 6, 2026 article in “NZZ am Sonntag” reported on informal meetings between the Kosovar and Serbian sides in Switzerland. Although the article mentions a friendly walk between a representative of the Kosovar side and a representative of the Serbian side through the streets of the small Swiss town, as well as the surprise that some had at this closeness between the two sides, it never mentions who they were by name.
The newspaper has made a distinction between the potential connection between the part where it is said that senior politicians from Kosovo and Serbia were seen as very close to each other and the part where Bislimi and Djuriqi are mentioned.
The division occurs at the part where it says: "However, in Switzerland, until now, it was not publicly known that ministers from both sides regularly attended. According to some sources, among them were Kosovo's Vice President Besnik Bislimi, who is responsible for negotiations with Belgrade, and Serbia's Foreign Minister and former ambassador to the US, Marko Djuric."
So, the media in Kosovo have overlooked this disconnect, making the connection between the first and second paragraphs of the article. The first paragraph talks about the friendly walk between representatives of the Kosovar and Serbian sides, while the second paragraph talks about what is said to have been recently learned that ministers from both sides also participated in the meetings. Here it is then mentioned that Bislimi and Djuriqi were among the participants, but without saying that these two had met.
As a result of these reports, the editorial staff of "NZZ am Sonntag" was forced to add a clarifying sentence, emphasizing that Bislimi and Djuriqi did not meet directly.
In this case, the failure was not only interpretive, but editorial: the linking of paragraphs without context and without verification produced a news story that did not exist in the original source.