NTV.al has shared several articles that are not backed by facts regarding the relationship between Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and the U.S. President-Elect, Donald Trump.
In the November 5th elections, Donald Trump ran against the current Vice President, Democrat Kamala Harris. Trump was declared the winner with more than the 270 votes required in the Electoral College. The Albanian online media outlet, NTV.al, has returned to speculating about the approach the new U.S. president will take with Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, by publishing sensationalist articles that lack factual content.
On November 11, 2023, this portal published an article titled: "Trump to visit Kosovo?/ The mirror of Vucic breaks as the secret war is cooked up."
The text cites Dushan Janjic, the founder of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, and Edon Cana, a former diplomat from Kosovo, who discussed the return of Donald Trump as president at the White House and analyzed how his power might impact the Balkans, specifically the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. Nowhere in the content is it mentioned that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will visit Kosovo, nor is there any declaration of a secret war, as this outlet claimed in the headline.
By failing to provide supporting evidence for the claim in the title, such articles are categorized as "clickbait" with misleading content.
On November 13, 2024, NTV.al published another article titled: "Kurti in Trump's Claws / The Harmful Start of an Inevitable Tragic End." The article features a statement by former CIA analyst, David Kanin, now a professor of European Studies at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. He commented on Donald Trump's victory in the November 5th elections and the developments that might unfold in the Balkans and Kosovo.
"Albin Kurti may win the elections in Kosovo, but he is very unpopular abroad. After Trump's election, he will face the U.S., which may be inclined to assist Vučić with policies towards Kosovo," Kanin is quoted as saying, without specifying the source of the interview or the media outlet he spoke to. After researching the online media, it turns out the interview was published by Radio Free Europe.
Nowhere in the content does it state that Kosovo's Prime Minister is under Trump's "claws," nor does it mention a tragic end for him.
After his victory in the U.S. elections, Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, congratulated the Republican candidate, Donald Trump. "The US is a key ally, friend and partner to Kosova and we look forward to working together for progress and peace." Kurti wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
During his first term, Kurti had numerous clashes with Trump’s subordinates after forming a coalition with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). The relationship with the U.S. became a pretext for the LDK to initiate a motion to overthrow Kurti's first government.
During his first term, Kurti stated that the motion of no confidence against his government, which was voted on in Parliament on March 25, had been coordinated with Ambassador Richard Grenell, who was then Trump’s Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. According to Kurti, the government was toppled simply because Grenell was pressuring him to sign an agreement with Serbia on territorial exchanges. However, Ambassador Grenell denied that there had been any discussions on territorial exchange, and he called Kurti "anti-American."
*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.”
