The Director of the Octopus Institute, Arben Fetoshi, has assessed that the reactions of the Serbian authorities and media to the visit of the President of Albania, Bajram Begaj, to the Presheva Valley, are part of a communication strategy aimed at relativizing the so-called “Serbian World” project.
Fetoshi, in an analysis published on Facebook, emphasizes that the presentation of President Begaj’s visit as an expansionist threat of an “Albanian World” is not based on facts, but is the product of a strategic communication that uses relativization and “false symmetry.”
According to him, narratives that Albania aims for territorial expansion or promotes “Greater Albania” are used to shift attention from the discrimination of Albanians in the Presheva Valley, including the practice of address passivation, which has been described by international human rights organizations as “ethnic cleansing by administrative means.”
Fetoshi emphasizes that President Begaj’s messages during the visit were focused on supporting the rights of Albanians in the Presevo Valley, while in Serbian political discourse they were interpreted as a threat to Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to him, this rhetoric aims to create the impression that Albanians also have a project similar to the “Serbian World”, with the aim of relativizing Belgrade’s hegemonic project and diverting attention from the ongoing international criticism of the violation of the rights of Albanians in Serbia.