The Head of the Office for Kosovo, Petar Petković, in a reaction published today (October 07) has continued with statements that re-introduce several disinformation narratives about the developments in Kosovo. Even in today's reaction, Petković insists on bringing the claim about, as he says, the calls for war by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti. Also, in this reaction, Petković repeated the narrative about the construction of, as he calls, illegal bases of the Kosovo Police in the north.
Within the framework of this statement, Petkovic also falsely claims an increase in attacks against Serbs, Serbian property and cemeteries in Kosovo.
However, for all his claims, Petkovic does not refer to any concrete facts that would support them.
Link to Petkovic's published statement:
Parts of Petković's statement:
It is absurd and worn-out that Vjosa Osmani attacks President Aleksandar Vučić, when the only real factor of instability in Kosovo and Metohija, but also beyond, is Albin Kurti, who every day threatens war, brandishes weapons, and builds illegal bases in the north of the country.
If they really want normalization of relations, peace and stability in Pristina, they should have formed the Association of Serbian Municipalities a long time ago, which guarantees collective rights for Serbs, instead of the daily increasing attacks on Serbs, their property, and even their graves.
Hibrid.info, in the course of monitoring disinformation claims from the Kosovo office or even political officials, has addressed some of their claims.
Petkovic's claims that "Kurti called for war by waving his weapons" and "by building illegal bases in the north" constitute a continuation of misinterpretations of statements and manipulation of facts.
This claim has been made earlier by Petkovic, and has been addressed by hibrid.info. Petkovic has built this claim by linking it to the statements of senior political and institutional representatives of Kosovo, led by Prime Minister Kurti, about the risk of a possible conflict in the region, as well as the level of readiness of Kosovo's security institutions to protect the country. in several interviews given to foreign media (Italian journalist "The Republic","Radio Free Europe", "Reuters" Kurti had warned of the risk of conflict, but not threatened war, as Petkovic claims. (here)
Petkovic interprets Kurti's statement to Croatian media that he "cannot rule out conflicts in the region" as his intention to ignite the Western Balkans, causing crises and tensions in northern Kosovo. The head of this office claims that Kurti's goal, through the construction of police bases, is "to enclose the Serbs in the north in a circle". However, Kurti bases his statement on concrete facts of the movements made by the Serbian army on the Serbian side of the Kosovo-Serbia border, which, according to him, would be the cause of a possible conflict. Kurti warns of a possible conflict based on the military movements of the Serbian state on the border with Kosovo, and not on any personal plan to cause unrest in the Balkans. (here)
Even the claims that there are daily attacks on Serbs in Kosovo, their properties and cemeteries are not substantiated. Hibrid.info has dealt with several cases that constitute this claim and which have turned out to be disinformation or manipulation of facts.
The Serbian newspaper "Politika" in an earlier publication had made the claim that, "with Albin Kurti's coming to power, attacks against Serbs have increased by 50 percent", which is unfounded in relevant sources. The veracity of the published information is questioned as a result of the lack of sources. Meanwhile, the newspaper's data refutes two UNMIK reports covering the years 2021-2022, which mention only 28 incidents against ethnic Serbs. In addition, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, based on data from the security bodies in the country, declare that interethnic incidents have decreased recently. (here)
The latest case covered by hibrid.info regarding the attack on Serbian cemeteries, despite the fact that the family members declare that they do not suspect anyone, the Office for Kosovo and its chief, accuse Albanians of this and similar actions. (here)
Analyze:
Petkovic's claims that Albin Kurti calls for war every day by waving his weapons and building bases in the north are misinformed interpretations because neither Kurti nor the construction of police bases in the north are related to any threat of war from Kosovo.
Even the claims that the Serbian community in Kosovo is attacked every day, their properties and cemeteries are attacked do not stand up to the fact that reports of interethnic incidents do not confirm the increase in interethnic incidents and according to police reports, the perpetrator of the damage to Serbian cemeteries or properties cannot be proven. These claims made today, which are part of a political narrative proclaimed even earlier by senior officials in the Serbian Government, have been assessed by hibrid.info in previous treatments as "Disinformation", "Manipulation of facts" and "Conspiracy Theory".