Kosovo remains sensitive to manipulation and interference through disinformation in political and security matters, said the European Union Ambassador to Kosovo, Aivo Orav. At the Kosovo Peace and Democracy Summit, themed \u201cA New World Disorder: Disinformation, Distrust, and the Destruction of Democratic Norms,\u201d he stated that Kosovo ranks 40th out of 41 countries on the European Media Literacy Index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the summit, he emphasized that \u201cdisinformation, polarization, and attacks on democratic norms threaten the foundations of trust and civic engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAcross Europe and beyond, disinformation seeks to weaken trust in institutions, polarize societies, and exploit divisions\u2014and Kosovo is no exception. Based on findings from hibrid.info, disinformation in the Albanian language is spread mostly on social media, while in the Serbian language it is most commonly spread through traditional media, with narratives often aligned with Russian disinformation, especially regarding political and security issues. As a result, Kosovo\u2019s information space remains susceptible to manipulation and interference. Research by our partners such as BIRN and Democracy Plus shows that critical thinking and source verification are not systematically discussed in schools and are not integrated into public education, leaving people exposed to manipulation and disinformation. Kosovo ranks 40th out of 41 countries on the European Media Literacy Index, reflecting weak institutional awareness regarding media education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stephen B. Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, said that democracy must be protected by all actors in order to address crises and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDemocracy does not defend itself; it depends on us\u2014citizens, journalists, academics, activists, educators, founders, and policymakers\u2014working together to solve crises and problems, restore trust, and build a kind of \u2018social fabric\u2019 within society. When I first visited in 2023, it was already clear that civil society is the beating heart of this country\u2019s democracy. Everyone knew that the coming years would be difficult. But civil society also understood the important and essential role they were called to play in Kosovo\u2019s democratic project. In the years since, civil society organizations, working with local activists and courageous individuals, have done more than provide services and advocate for key reforms\u2014they have nurtured the habits of citizenship, which Tocqueville called the \u2018habits of the heart,\u2019 essential for a vibrant democracy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Peace and Democracy Summit in Kosovo, themed \u201cA New World Disorder: Disinformation, Distrust, and the Destruction of Democratic Norms,\u201d he said that \u201cpeace that exists only on paper is not sustainable peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is a truth that must be spoken aloud, no matter how difficult: there is no lasting peace in Kosovo or the Western Balkans without a sincere dialogue between Albanians and Serbs. There is simply no alternative. This dialogue cannot be reduced to negotiations between governments or meetings between Brussels and Belgrade. These are necessary, of course, but peace that exists only on paper is not sustainable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive director of \u201cS\u2019Bunker,\u201d Bardhi Bakija, said that \u201cthe Western Balkans is the ideal testing ground for the warfare of information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe region has slipped into old anxieties, manufactured ethnic myths, performative nationalism, frozen conflicts that continually reinvent themselves, and political elites who willingly and comfortably exploit fear. At the same time, global actors have discovered that the Western Balkans is the ideal testing ground for the information battlefield. The targeting is sophisticated, cheap, and unstoppable, while the damage is massive. But credibility matters more. Dialogue without credibility cannot shape any kind of peace. This is where our work begins,\u201d Bakija concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Peace and Democracy Summit in Kosovo, themed \u201cA New World Disorder: Disinformation, Distrust, and the Destruction of Democratic Norms,\u201d continued with several discussion panels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kosovo remains sensitive to manipulation and interference through disinformation in political and security matters, said the European Union Ambassador to Kosovo, Aivo Orav. At the Kosovo Peace and Democracy Summit, themed \u201cA New World Disorder: Disinformation, Distrust, and the Destruction of Democratic Norms,\u201d he stated that Kosovo ranks 40th out of 41 countries on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":78275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[301,296],"tags":[5543,7009,7010],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78276,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78274\/revisions\/78276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}