Category: News and Events

The screening took place in Pristina at Reporting House, gathering journalists, civil society representatives, and members of the public to reflect on the evolving information landscape shaped by the war in Ukraine.

The film, Russian Disinformation after the Invasion of Ukraine, presents evidence of how manipulated narratives targeting Albanian-speaking audiences have been disseminated through translated and republished content originating from Serbian and Russian media outlets.

Focusing on coverage of the war in Ukraine, the documentary shows patterns of foreign information manipulation and influence in Kosovo’s media environment. It shows how foreign interference seeks to shape opinions within different communities in Kosovo, including efforts to influence the public discourse in the Serbian community. The findings highlight how disinformation campaigns adapt across languages and borders, reinforcing political narratives aligned with Kremlin interests.

Opening the event, Jeta Xharra, Executive Director of BIRN Kosovo, emphasized the symbolic importance of the anniversary and the war’s relationship to Kosovo’s own history of war.

“It is not just one or two years of solidarity. We continue to think about Ukraine and what is happening there. It reminds us of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and the people who were killed in Kosovo, who were forced to flee this country. We remember them, just as we remember the victims of the Kremlin,” Xharra said.

Speaking at the premiere, Ukrainian journalist Iryna Synelnyk, who has been based in Kosovo, reflected on her personal experience of disinformation.

“When I arrived in Pristina in July 2022, I did not know much about Kosovo. Now I understand that some of the information I had previously read was Russian and Serbian propaganda. That is why it is so important to talk about this, and to fight it,” she said.

The documentary is part of the Media Integrity and Disinformation Watch project, supported by the British embassy in Kosovo, an initiative aimed at countering disinformation through investigative reporting and systematic documentation.

Over the course of the project, five documentaries were produced, tracing the development and impact of disinformation related to economy, religion, ethnicity and elections as well as foreign malign influence coming from Russia.

Of the 49 participants, 18 were men and 31 were women.

The event served as both a moment of remembrance and a call to sustained vigilance in confronting disinformation in Kosovo and beyond.

The event was attended by many institutional, international, and civil society representatives, including law enforcement agencies, with keynote speeches from the UK Ambassador to Kosovo, Jonathan Hargreaves, the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Prosecution Office, Blerim Isufaj, and Lieutenant Blerim Rama from the Kosovo Police.

In her opening speech, BIRN Kosovo Director Jeta Xharra highlighted the historical experience of migration in Kosovo and explained how the documentary exposes the functioning and influence of smuggling networks that use Kosovo as a transit or destination country. While Chief Prosecutor Isufaj stressed that irregular migration requires coordinated institutional and international action, noting intensified investigations and cooperation with the United Kingdom, including the 2025 case of Laboratori,  in which suspects were sanctioned by UK authorities.

UK Ambassador in Kosovo, Jonathan Hargreaves, emphasized the UK’s focus on tackling illegal migration and criminal groups exploiting migrants, underlining strong cooperation with Kosovo institutions to combat organized crime.  In addition, according to Kosovo Police representative, Blerim Rama, main irregular entry points include Han i Elezit and Vërmica, while exits toward Serbia often occur through Jarinje. He noted effective cooperation with Albania and North Macedonia, but a lack of cooperation from Serbia.

After the speeches were concluded, the documentary was premiered for the participants. The BIRN event was livestreamed on YouTube . Through this documentary, the project partners aim to raise awareness of migrant smuggling networks and to promote coordinated action by relevant institutions to address irregular migration. 44 participants gathered at the launch event, of whom 10 were women.

This activity was funded by the British Embassy in Kosovo, implemented by BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova (I/KS).

On the fourth and final day, on February 6, the training programme was attended by 20 participants from the Special Prosecution Office, the Investigation Department of the Tax Administration of Kosovo, the Investigation Department of the Kosovo Police, the Police Inspectorate, and investigators from Kosovo Customs.

During the training, Kreshnik Gashi, Managing Editor of Kallxo.com, Alan Edwards, a JTI mentor from the British Embassy, and Labinot Leposhtica shared their professional perspectives and firsthand experiences on public appearances and public speaking. More specifically, the morning session focused on sharing the extensive experience of expert Edwards in local and international cases. He presented in detail the steps to be followed by joint investigation teams, from UK cases to his work in Kosovo with EULEX.

In the afternoon session, Kreshnik Gashi discussed institutional coordination in communication and its planning in the field of communication, to then continue with a very important part of the training that dealt with public appearances according to the standards of preserving the privacy of the parties, in relation to the European Union’s online communications regulation.

The training aimed at sharing experiences from the experts of the Joint Investigation Teams and the steps to be followed, but also to specify the EU rules on online communication. A total of 17 participants took part in the training, five of whom were women.

This activity is funded by the British Embassy in Kosovo, implemented by BIRN Kosovo and Intenews Kosova.