Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 11/09/2024; Author: Darvin Muric
Political debates surrounding Kosovo, its independence, and the relations between that country and Montenegro have always been popular in the public domain, but these issues s are also often manipulated.
One such debate took place on Monday when, during a parliamentary session, DPS MP Andrija Nikolic asked the Speaker of the Montenegrin Parliament, Andrija Mandic, to tell the citizens whether he recognized Kosovo’s independence, whether he gave up on Montenegro’s exit from NATO and whether he abandoned lifting sanctions on Russia, that is all things he had promised when, he fought to gain power with his political allies.
Unfortunately, this debate did not remain confined to the parliamentary premises but spilled over to the Internet, where manipulations quickly ensued.
“During yesterday’s visit to the self-proclaimed Republic and its Prime Minister Albin Kurti, DPS Vice President Andrej Nikolic, in the spirit of good neighborly relations, advocated for Moskovska Street, which symbolizes the capital of the aggressor on Ukraine, to be renamed to Adem Jashari Street after a change of government in Podgorica following the September elections. Jashari symbolizes the freedom struggle of the Albanian people against Greater Serbian hegemony. In the name of the Montenegrin people, he apologized to the Albanian people for all the atrocities committed by Montenegrins in the Dukagjin region, which from the 1912 occupation until the 1999 liberation was referred to as Metohija,” claims a post shared on nationalist Facebook and Instagram pages (archived 1, 2, 3).
The DPS MP did visit Pristina on August 28, where he met with the country’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, which was confirmed by Nikolic’s party.
“We discussed models for deepening the cooperation of the Western Balkans region with NATO, neighborly relations, and European Union integration,” Nikolic said.
The DPS MP told Raskrinkavanje that these are fake news.
“These are fake news, being spread because the election campaign is ongoing,” Nikolic briefly explained to Raskrinkavanje.
Adem Jashari was one of the founders and leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In the 1990s, he mobilized discontented Albanians in Kosovo, and the authorities at the time sentenced him in absentia.
“During those months, KLA members increasingly attacked police stations, for which Serbian authorities blamed Jashari,” the BBC Serbian service reports.
Serbian forces killed Jashari and his entire family, except for his niece, in an operation from March 5 to 7 in the village of Donje Prekaze in Kosovo. Serbian authorities and many residents viewed Jashari as a terrorist and claimed he had deliberately sacrificed his extended family during the attack on his house, where he was also killed.
Given all the above, the claims that Nikolic promised to rename Moskovska Street to Adem Jashari Street are rated as fake news.
The “Fake news” rating is given to an original media report (completely produced by the media that published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be reliably determined to have been created and disseminated with the intent to misinform the public, that is, to present a completely false claim as fact.
