Portalb: Western Balkan Countries Sent “Mercenaries” to Fight in Ukraine – a Russian Propaganda
Through a tendentious and sensationalist headline, a Facebook portal misinforms the public that many Kosovo citizens are mobilized to defend Ukraine over recent events related to Russia. Apart from the fact that this is not true, the citizens of Kosovo are prohibited by law from participating in wars outside Kosovo, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo confirmed that none of its citizens went to fight for Ukraine, reports Portalb.mk.
Author: Ardit Ramadani
Russian President Vladimir Putin has never spoken out about Kosovo’s support for Ukraine in recent events, much less expressed concern about it.
“Putin scared to death” / Citizens of Kosovo mobilize “to defend Ukraine!” – is the headline of the news we are reviewing.
The headline of this news is tendentious and manipulative, and above all, it claims something that is not true, because, neither Putin was scared to death, nor the citizens of Kosovo are mobilized to defend Ukraine. The news that the ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Albania stated that there were Kosovars interested in defending Ukraine from Russia is true, but apart from this statement, there is no other evidence to support this claim.
The origin of this disinformation is from Russian TASS and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov
A few days earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said that Ukraine was “recruiting” mercenaries from Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina to defend it.
“There are reports that mercenaries from Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are being recruited to misbalance Russia and they send them to various places, including Donbass,” Lavrov said.
Then, also the Russian news agency TASS had such inaccurate information. Immediately after this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo denied the Russian Minister and the Russian news agency TASS, stating that there are no Kosovars who went to fight in Ukraine because it is prohibited by law.
We inform Russian Minister Lavrov and the Russian news agency TASS that the Republic of Kosovo has by law banned its citizens from participating in wars abroad and this law provides severe penalties for any of its citizens who may be part of such activities, the MFA states.
The ministry estimates that the statements of the TASS agency and Minister Lavrov are part of a fierce campaign of Russian propaganda, which according to aims to attract the attention of the entire democratic world.
This fierce Russian campaign against Kosovo and other Western Balkan countries, among other things, aims to escalate the situation in Kosovo and the wider region through the Russian satellite in the Balkans, Serbia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the full solidarity of the people of Kosovo with the people of Ukraine for the right to a free and sovereign life in their own country. The Republic of Kosovo calls for the reduction of tension and the avoidance of conflict, which could reach unpredictable proportions, according to a statement from the Kosovo Foreign Ministry.
In this statement from the ministry is also underlined that Kosovo joined the democratic world in condemning Russia’s hegemonic and expansionist policies to the detriment of the sovereign and the independent state of Ukraine.
To conclude, the disinformation is that there is an official mobilization to send Kosovars to fight in Ukraine.
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