*Prepared by: Ridona Berisha
On June 26th, the Serbian portal Novosti published an article titled "Prishtina is planning to make even more massive and brutal arrests of Serbs on the day of the visit: Cameras installed at Gazimestan." Despite the biased title, this claim by Novosti is not supported by the content of the article.
In the published article, Novosti only mentions their own editorial team as a source, without providing any data or facts to support their claims. As for the claim that "cameras have been installed around the area," no photographs are provided in the text to confirm such a thing.
The Serbian media outlet, which also has coverage in Serbian-populated areas in Kosovo, has attempted to instill fear among the citizens of this community by stating that the Kosovo Police has planned to torture visitors during the Vidovdan celebration, historically celebrated by Serbs at Gazimestan, near Pristina.
"The plan was for much more brutal and massive arrests of Serbs, which occurs every year during the Vidovdan celebration at Gazimestan," the article states.
The same news was also spread by other media outlets supportive of Vucic, such as Alo, Informer, Srbija Danas and Kurir.
Regarding these reports, the so-called chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo, Millovan Drecun, has also written about this. According to him, Kurti's goal is for Serbs to not live in Kosovo at all.
"Kurti has compiled a list of around 350 Serbs whom he labels as terrorists, and the Serbian people have had their room for action restricted. After the blockades of last year, there was a demand to avoid further barricades, even though Pristina continues to do so by placing police checkpoints in northern Kosovo." Drecun. stated.
In relation to this claim, the Kosovo Police has not released any plan indicating there will be massive arrests of Serbs, as alleged by Serbian media. However, on June 27th, one day before Vidovdan celebration, the Kosovo Police issued a media statement, informing the public about operational measures to manage the security situation in the country.
"According to police planning, the senior management of the Kosovo Police has held official meetings with international partners, who have been informed about the planning and police activities for the following day. These plans aim to create a calm and secure environment for all citizens without distinction," states the official statement from the Kosovo Police.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, has announced a single incident involving the son of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. His shirt with anti-Kosovo state slogans was removed, as he entered as an ordinary citizen, and no special procedures were applied and no arrest was made, as claimed by Serbian media. "The Kosovo Police made a decision to stop and check vehicles that were brought in suspiciously, and his shirt was removed. That's all that happened, and they left for Serbia," Sveçla said in a media statement following the government meeting.
Nevertheless, this is not the first time that Serbian media has reported such speculations. In previous instances, certain media outlets and Serbian politicians have consistently speculated that the government of Kosovo has compiled lists with the names of Serbs who will be arrested and incarcerated. However, this information has never been confirmed with any concrete evidence.
*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.”
