Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 21/02/2023
The already complicated relations between Serbia and Kosovo have been further burdened by bombastic headlines that were taken out of context. While the two sides are trying to find a compromise solution, the media keep “pulling out” old narratives and trying to paint the wrong picture using them.
The prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has been at the centre of attention these days. He spoke about the situation in Kosovo, the Prime Minister there, Albin Kurti, as well as the two approaches to Serbia. However, the Serbian media went one step further. The Alo web portal published the following headline:
EDI RAMA: Both Kurti and I want the unification of Albanians and Greater Albania!
The Serbian Times web portal says:
EDI RAMA OPENLY PLANS GREATER ALBANIA: The goal is to have Serbia recognize Kosovo and Albanians to unite!
Rama did talk about the fact that he agreed with Kurti that Albanians should unite, but he did not mention the project of “Greater Albania”. In an interview with TV Klan, the Prime Minister of Albania said:
“Albanians must unite. Yes, of course, Albin wants the same thing, but I think differently about how to get there. Albin however thinks differently. But Albin is the prime minister of Kosovo and he has to choose, I wish him all the best and to succeed and let him understand that I might be wrong”.
In the controversial articles on the Alo and Serbian Times web portals, there is no mention of “Great Albania”, only in the title.
Rama spoke about the unification of the Albanians earlier, in the context of getting closer to the European Union:
“I never spoke about ‘Great Albania’. Greater Albania is a term that has been coined, promoted, commented on and used against Albanians by those who stood on the other side of the war trenches throughout history. So, there is no ‘Great Albania’ in any Albanian romanticism, so to say, not even in the renaissance. There is a clear idea that we are brothers who live in two different countries today and that we should certainly unite. I have always looked at that unification as a part of our path towards the European Union and if there is something that is great, then it’s the great European Union, at least in my imagination and my convictions.”
Rama also spoke about ‘Greater Albania’ earlier and said that it was nonsense, that he had no plan or intention to form a ‘Greater Albania’, and that it was a matter of the past:
“That was never our goal, because I strongly believe that ‘Greater Albania’, ‘Greater Serbia’ or anything else called ‘greater’ belongs to the past. That was never an option, it just belongs in the past.”
Due to the obvious inconsistencies between the title and the content of the texts and Rama’s earlier views on the same topic, the disputed posts get the rating of disinformation.
The “Disinformation” rating is given to a media report that contains a “mix”; of facts and incorrect or half-true content. In such cases, the media may not necessarily be aware of incorrect information being published alongside the true ones. Also, this grade will be given to media reports with false attributions or titles that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.