Several media outlets in Kosovo and Albania fell into the trap of misquoting, set by the Ukrainian medium "European Pravda" concerning a statement made by Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, where he mentioned the conflict with Serbia. Although the quote was later corrected, the news in the Albanian media continues to be accessible with the headline drawn from the initial statement: "Bislimi: We must be ready for war."
Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, was one of the discussants in an article published on the Ukrainian platform "European Pravda" titled: "Waiting for Putin: How the West’s desire to protect minorities has created a grey area in the Balkans" There, Bislimi discusses recent events in the predominantly Serbian-populated north and the terrorist attack in the village of Banjska in Zvečan on September 24, 2024, which escalated tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.
On April 26, "European Pravda" initially published a quote from Bislimi discussing a conflict with Serbia. However, the following sentence clarifies that he was referring to non-conventional warfare.
“We have to be ready for war. Yes, a conventional war is impossible now, as we are protected by KFOR peacekeepers. However, as the example of Banjska has shown, a hybrid attack can always be launched against us – and we need to be prepared for this to happen again at any time”, is written in the first version of the statement.
But, the quote from Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi was later changed to this wording: "We have to be ready for worst... There are several elements that indicate that this could be possible. One of them is the deployment of troops around the border with Kosovo. Serbia has some 48 bases on the border to Kosovo which have the name "forward operating bases", with altogether around 6000 soldiers. In the same time Serbia is a strong pro-Russian satellite in the Western Balkans, and we know that it is in the genuine interest of Russia to start another conflict even closer to the EU".
"European Pravda" also noted that Bislimi's quote was corrected after the article was published.
Most Albanian-language media that translated the news from the Ukrainian outlet used titles from Bislimi's first sentence. The article with Bislimi's initial statement was distributed by portals such as: “Periskopi”, “Gazeta Blic”, “Gjilani Press”, “Reporteri.com”, “Gazeta Enigma”, with the headline: "Bislimi: We must be ready for war." The same headline was also used by media in Albania, including “Euronews Albania”, “A2 CNN”.
In addition to the media that shared headlines about war across social networks, there were also posts from the opposition. Democratic Party Deputy, Enver Hoxhaj, criticized Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi for mentioning war through a Facebook post. "Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi is a typical example of a clueless politician who confuses the essence of political stance with public sensitivity when he declared in the Ukrainian media that 'we must be ready for war.' When a negotiator fails, he talks about war. With this kind of statement, Besnik Bislimi has declared himself a failed negotiator," wrote Hoxhaj.
Even after the Ukrainian media corrected Bislimi's statement, the former Foreign Minister did not change his post.
*This article is published as part of the Western Balkans Regional Initiative against disinformation. “Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub: exposing malign influences through watchdog journalism.”
