How did the Russian media spread manipulative content before the elections in Kosovo?

The European Union Election Observation Mission noted in its report that these two media outlets have published around 60 articles about the elections in Kosovo since the beginning of January, and that some of them contain a narrative of manipulation against the Serbian community.

The texts with "manipulative content" are not singled out in this report of the EU observation mission, but Radio Free Europe (RFE) has analyzed some of them. The emphasis is mainly placed on the Serbian List as the "protectors" of Serb interests in Kosovo, while the Kosovo authorities and the current Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, are linked to the "persecution" of Serbs or "attacks" against them without any evidence being presented.

Ivana Stradner, an associate at the Washington-based non-governmental Foundation for Defense of Democracies, specified in a statement to RFE/RL that Russia has a long history of "information operations to interfere in elections in order to support a particular candidate, polarize society or diminish the importance of democracy."

"In the Balkans, Russia needs chaos so that it can use it in negotiations with the West, where (President Vladimir) Putin would position himself as a mediator and tell the West that if it doesn't want to escalate the chaos, they have to negotiate with him, which he would use as a bargaining chip," Stradner said.

She added that Moscow "doesn't have to send tanks and planes" to destabilize the region, but that "information operations and sabotage" would be enough.

RFE/RL also contacted the Kosovo Government with a request to comment on the allegations of the EU Election Observation Mission that RT Balkan and Sputnik Serbia published dozens of articles with manipulative content against the Serbian community during the election campaign, and what was done to prevent the influence of these media outlets, but no response was received.

 

How is manipulation carried out?

The article titled "Pristina miscalculated - not even Molotov cocktails will scare the Serbs", published on January 28 on the Sputnik Serbia website, alludes to the fact that the Kosovo authorities wanted to "scare" the Serbs in Kosovo with Molotov cocktails, while a similar narrative continues in the first sentence of this news item:

 

"We should not be surprised if incidents continue in Kosovo and Metohija, with which Pristina will try to intimidate the Serbs and the Serbian List ahead of the February elections, but let them remember that the Serbs are a people of defiance."

Although this is a quote attributed to Luka Jovanović, a professor at the University of North Mitrovica, the author of the text puts the emphasis on how “Pristina is trying to intimidate Serbs ahead of the elections,” so that in the next paragraph the reader can see how unknown persons actually threw a Molotov cocktail at the car of a Serbian List activist.

Despite this fact, the text continues to insist that an “attack on Serbs” occurred, and that “such an act should be viewed in the context of the increasing and growing violence carried out by the Pristina regime against the Serbian population.”

Nowhere is it mentioned that the Kosovo police have launched an investigation or that the day before, unknown perpetrators had set fire to a billboard of the Serbian People’s Movement, which also participated in the Kosovo elections, which was located in front of the house of their candidate for parliament.

In an RT Balkan article titled "What the elections bring to Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija: From Adem Jashari and Hashim Thaci to Kurti and back," published on January 30, it is written that the leader of Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti, tried to "use" the Kosovo Security Forces at a pre-election rally in Srbica, and then it is stated that "there has been no change in the attitude of Albanian elites and Pristina's policy towards Serbs," and that the goal has always been to "expell" Serbs from Kosovo.

It adds that "methods have changed", that "there are no more kidnappings, bombings, murders, camps, organ harvesting, as during the time of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army)", but that Serbs are now being forced into a "silent exodus" through "constant pressure, arrests, false accusations of war crimes".

No evidence is presented for these claims, nor is it mentioned that Serbian forces also committed crimes against Albanian civilians during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, that individuals were tried for these crimes before the international tribunal in The Hague. Also, evidence of "organ trafficking" has never been found. During the war in Kosovo, around 13,000 people were killed, while around 1,600 missing persons, mainly from the Albanian community, are still being sought.

 

'Favouritism of the Serbian List'

There are also news stories in which Sputnik Serbia and RT Balkans exclusively followed the Serbian List campaign, and reported statements by party officials who emphasized that only the Serbian List brings unity to Serbs in Kosovo, and how it is fighting for the survival of Serbs in impossible conditions, and similar.

This narrative can be seen in the headlines of these news stories, some of which are: "Final rally of the Serbian List in Zvečan: Referendum of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija on Sunday", "Serbian List in Gornji Kusce: A battle is being fought in Kosovo and Metohija for the survival of Serbs", "Serbian List rally in Kosovska Mitrovica: Serbian state and Serbian unity win on Sunday, Serbian List: We represent the interests of the Serbian people, that's why we are bothering Kurti".

 

Also, in the articles of RT Balkan or Sputnik Serbia, which concerned the elections in Kosovo, the reader could not find out that, in addition to the Serbian List, five other political entities representing the Serbian community are participating in the race for parliamentary seats in the Kosovo Assembly: the Serbian Democracy Party, the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival, the Serbian People's Movement, the Party of Kosovo Serbs, and the Civic Initiative People's Justice.

It is not mentioned anywhere that the Serbian List deputies have been exposed to criticism from the public and political opponents because they have boycotted the sessions of the Kosovo Assembly in the last two years, they have not presented the problems faced by the Serbian community because they have appeared every six months to sign in order to preserve their mandates and the salary that goes with them.

Incidentally, due to the Serbian List's boycott policy after leaving the Kosovo institutions in November 2022, Albanian mayors came to power in four municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north, which caused protests by the Serbian community and frequent crises.

The situation culminated in September 2023 when an armed group of Serbs led by Milan Radoičić - former vice-president of the Serbian List - attacked the Kosovo police in Banjska and killed one police officer.

Hibrid.info on Russian media 'conspiracy theories'

In the weekly and monthly reports for January of the portal Hibrid.info, which monitors disinformation about Kosovo in the media, it is written that Sputnik dealt with conspiracy theories on several occasions during January, and that readers were misled that elections were being "rigged" in Kosovo.

One example is the news on Sputnik on January 21 in which the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, claimed that Kurti "intends to falsify the elections in Kosovo to the detriment of the Serbian List in order to place puppets loyal to Pristina in the parliamentary seats".

No evidence was presented for these claims.

"At the hands of the self-proclaimed Pristina authorities, with the complicity and encouragement of Washington and its allies from the EU, a ruthless campaign of cleansing Kosovo and Metohija of Serbs and carrying out violent Albanization continues", Zakharova's statement was reported by, in addition to Sputnik, also RT Balkan.

Also, under the conspiracy theory, Hibrid Info highlighted a text in Sputnik in which the director of the Kosovo office in the Serbian government, Petar Petković, claims that Kurti aims to create an ethnically pure Kosovo and form a "greater Albania".

No evidence has been provided for this either.

 

 

What is the reach of these media outlets?

RT and Sputnik are under sanctions in Kosovo in accordance with the policy of the European Union and the sanctions imposed on Russia after it began its invasion of Ukraine.

 

Thus, the television channels of these media outlets are not available on cable operators, including those in Serbian areas in Kosovo, which are mainly covered by the company MTS d.o.o - a subsidiary of the Serbian company "Telekom" that emerged from the Brussels Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and registered under Kosovo laws.

Incidentally, Serbia has not imposed sanctions on Russia, and therefore not on Russian media outlets supported by the Kremlin.

The online platforms of RT Balkan and Sputnik Serbia were not accessible on February 13 and 14 via the internet of mobile networks operating in Kosovo - vala, ipko and mts.

However, on February 18, the Sputnik Serbia website was accessible via the internet of all these mobile operators, while RT Balkan was still blocked.

RFE/RL has contacted Vala, Ipko and Mts to ask how it is possible to access the Sputnik website if it is under sanctions from the Kosovo government, but a response is still awaited.

Mts previously told RFE/RL that the company adheres to the blocking list sent to it by the Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Computer Communications of Kosovo (ARKEP).

"Although we have strictly adhered to the list provided by ARKEP, we acknowledge the possibility of new web portals emerging that were not part of the original directive," MTS said.

The Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Communications (ARKEP) pointed out in a response to RFE/RL that all internet providers and mobile operators are obliged to block Russian media websites in accordance with the sanctions imposed on them, but that due to the dynamic nature of the internet, the availability of these websites may vary.

"It depends on the measures implemented by local authorities, as well as on the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) or proxy servers, which can bypass these restrictions. The lack of an Internet domain/country code (ccTLD) also creates additional challenges in this process," ARKEP said.

The European Union Election Observation Mission states in its report that the reach of RT Balkan and Sputnik is also limited on social networks by the fact that they are present only on the X platform, where their posts rarely reach more than 2,000 users.

However, these two media are also available on Telegram channels, where their content can be partially read without directly entering their official websites.

Ivana Stradner, an associate at the Washington-based non-governmental Foundation for Defense of Democracies, points out that she often hears statements that RT and Sputnik have no influence in the Balkans because they are not read, and that they do not have enough "likes" and interactions on social networks, but that such a thesis "falls into the water" because their texts are transmitted by local media, bloggers and influencers through their social networks.

"RT and Sputnik are Moscow's weapons through which they control or impose narratives. Russian military strategists openly say that whoever has information superiority will win the war - and the West is already in an information war with Moscow, but also with Iran and China," says Stradner.

 

In its report last year titled "From Russia to Serbia: How RT Spreads Kremlin Propaganda in the Balkans Despite EU Sanctions," the organization Reporters Without Borders states that RT Balkan content is quoted in the media in Serbia, including the Public Service - Radio Television of Serbia.

"RT is cited as a reliable source of news related to Russia and as a result RT Balkan functions as a state news agency, similar to Russia's TASS," it concludes.

Incidentally, Russia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, but it has had its own liaison office in Pristina since 2005. However, the activities of that office are not known to the public.

 

Do Kosovo Serbs trust Russian media?

 

Citizens of North Mitrovica who were interviewed by Radio Free Europe say that they used to follow RT Balkan and Sputnik online, but that they are no longer available to them.

Nenad says that he has never fully trusted media supported by the Kremlin, but that he also does not trust certain media supported by Western countries.

"Especially in these moments, given the global picture in the world. Both media outlets are doing propaganda, and so logically the Russian ones too," he tells RFE/RL.

Aleksandar says that, while he could, he followed Sputnik Serbia and that, in his opinion, it is not democratic that it is banned from access.

"I think that Sputnik is democratic because they let all sides in and it is up to the people to believe or not," he believes.

Stefan says he would "occasionally glance" at Sputnik Serbia and RT Balkans while they were not banned, but that he never followed them regularly.

"I always look at everything with a grain of doubt, but it depends on the news, I would do my own research on other media and maybe I would come to a conclusion then," he says.

 

Reporters Without Borders on the founding and influence of RT Balkans

In its 2024 report, the organization Reporters Without Borders assessed that an announcement on the X network by RT's editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, hinted at the media outlet's motive for expanding to Serbia.

 

"We launched RT in the Balkans. Because Kosovo is Serbia," the announcement read after the opening of RT Balkans on November 15, 2022.

Reporters Without Borders also states that in September 2024 they sent an inquiry to this media outlet about its mission in the Balkans, but, as they state, they received a sarcastic response: "We founded RT Balkans with one goal, to annoy Reporters Without Borders."

 

"The provocative, political response shows how RT positions itself as the antithesis of an organization that defends independent media. RT also does not want to reveal information about its mission or relationship with the government, which independent media outlets - as this Russian media outlet claims to be - should be able to provide," Reporters Without Borders wrote in the report, among other th How to stop Russia's influence through the media?

Ivana Stradner points out that Russia "knows very well the sensitive points in the region", and that it "gladly uses the role of religion and ethnic tensions in its operations".

"Through such a rise in tensions, the goal is to create chaos in the region, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in Kosovo", she assesses.

Stradner notes that Russia's influence will not decline, although "many in the West like to fantasize about it".

"RT recently opened a TV station, the information operations on Telegram that I follow are only growing, and Moscow has adapted its strategy so that it is now more concerned with influencing bloggers and influencers on social networks in the Balkans so that they spread narratives", she says.

In order to prevent disinformation from Russia, the West must send teams to combat hybrid warfare, says Stradner, warning that Moscow does not follow the rules that exist in the information space "because it is not a democracy".

In this context, he emphasizes that Western countries must invest more in youth education and free media, and punish leaders and entities in the region that control media freedom and spread disinformation.