Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 19/09/2022
EuroPride was scheduled for September, but was the target of disinformation even before it took place, partly because of the uncertainty of whether it would be held at all, partly due to intolerance and hate speech that tend to accompany such events. However, things have come to a climax on the very day of the event, when numerous media associated what is otherwise a walk for human rights with political relations between Serbia and Kosovo.
Numerous pride-goers from Serbia, the region and other European countries walked the streets of Belgrade, despite the initial bans and a series of incidents that ensued.
In covering the event, Sputnik Serbia reported that Kosovo Albanians attended the parade, and were glorifying Kosovo during the event.
Among participants of the “Europride 2022” walk are Kosovo Albanians who are chanting slogans in support of the so-called “Republic of Kosovo”. They were filmed by a Sputnik reporter at the entrance to the Tasmajdan stadium. The video also shows private security officers guarding the participants of the walk,” according to the report.
Numerous regional media cited this information and featured the video content initially published by Sputnik Serbia. Borba.me, Srbija Danas, Kosovo online, Nova srpska političa misao, Intermagazin.rs, Faktor magazin, Srbin info, Subotičke, Banja Luka 24 featured the recording where the word “Kosovo” is heard, citing Sputnik as the source and claiming it was Albanians chanting the slogans.
Also, this information prompted the editorial staff of the 24Sedam portal to publish a homophobic headline and content:
“Sick faggots glorifying the so-called state of Kosovo in the downtown of Belgrade! See what they look like! (VIDEO).
Kosovo Albanians who chanted slogans dedicated to the so-called “Republic of Kosovo” were among the participants of today’s Europride 2022 walk. The shameful behavior of the “guests” who took part in the banned event is an attack on the entire Serbian population.”
After the video was analyzed and played at slow speed, it turned out that a EuroPride participant was actually uttering the following sentence in English:
“From Rojava to Kosovo, transfeminism.”
Our research team found out that the person from the video taken at EuroPride is actually Ozgur K., and that he is neither from Kosovo, nor Albania, but from Istanbul, and he was uttering the given sentence in English in the video.
“I was only saying “From Rojava to Kosovo – transfeminism”, in English. We had a banner that read “From Rojava to Kosovo we thrive with transfeminism”. Rojava is a district in Kurdistan, and Kosovo, as you know, is Kosovo. Transfeminism is a trans-inclusive feminism, which to me is synonymous with peace and inclusiveness. The banner means peace for all geographical areas, uniting through intersectionalism and transfeminism, not excluding anyone, it’s for everything and everyone”, as Ozgur K. told Raskrinkavanje.
Additional evidence that disproves the claim that Kosovo Albanians shouted slogans dedicated to Kosovo is a banner with the message that reads:
“From Rojava to Kosovo we thrive with transfeminism”
A photo gallery from EuroPride, including a photo of the said banner, is available on Insajder.net.
Rojava is the Kurdish name for a region of Syria where Kurds form the dominant majority. During 2016, the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria – Rojava was proclaimed. This name is still used to describe the wider autonomous region officially known as North and East Syria.
As facts prove that there are no Kosovo Albanians in the video and that the chanting has nothing to do with politics and Kosovo, but conveys a message of acceptance and tolerance, we flag this media report as fake news.
The “Fake News” label is assigned to an original media report (entirely produced by the media that originally published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. The contents labelled as fake news are those identified with full certainty as having been created and disseminated with the intention of disinforming the public and presenting an otherwise completely false claim as a fact.