Arben Fetoshi

THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH “DEFENDS” PAUNOVIC Institute "Octopus" responds to the statement of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren The Institute for Hybrid Warfare Studies “Octopus” assesses the statement issued by the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren as a compilation of Serbia’s manipulative narratives, which implicitly defends Minister Paunović. Following strong international reactions to the minister’s statement on the “ethnic cleansing of Kosovo,” the Eparchy seeks to divert attention from Belgrade’s political responsibility by repeating victimization narratives about the alleged “discrimination, oppression, and terror” against Serbs in Kosovo. In the context of strategic communication, this represents a well-known model of information crisis management, whereby the narrative is transferred to the Church as a religious institution endowed with moral authority and symbolic influence. The statement, entitled “The Increasingly Difficult Position of the Serbian People and the Church in Kosovo and Metohija,“ employs language that goes beyond concerns for religious rights, reiterating the narrative that Serbs in Kosovo are allegedly facing “complete disappearance.” Such wording, charged with political and psychological implications, is intended not only to manipulate international public opinion but also to justify Paunovic’s statement by portraying a situation analogous to ethnic cleansing. The Serbian Orthodox Church, which only a few days ago awarded the Order of Saint Sava to Danica Marinkovic—known for denying the Racak massacre and for defending the legality of war crimes committed in Kosovo—has now positioned itself as a mitigating actor against international pressure by rehabilitating Milošević’s legacy and legitimizing the objectives of the “Serbian World” project. This reflects the hegemonic project adapted to the post-war environment, which Serbia seeks to advance through its hybrid strategy by relativizing responsibility for war crimes that have been documented and condemned internationally. The statement presents no factual evidence that could warrant international investigation or monitoring. Instead, it amplifies political narratives portraying Kosovo’s institutions as a systematic mechanism of discrimination and the Kosovo Police as an instrument of ethnic oppression. The Octopus Institute considers it particularly alarming that the Serbian Orthodox Church has neither distanced itself from Minister Paunovic’s statement nor from Ivica Dacic’s defense of it. Instead, its allegations of ethnic and religious discrimination are framed within Serbia’s hybrid strategy aimed at undermining Kosovo, including portraying: the dismantling of illegal structures as institutional discrimination; the integration of parallel education and healthcare systems as a violation of access to rights; chauvinistic provocations as an exercise of freedom of expression. The Church’s claim that, without an immediate international response, the “disappearance of the Serbian people” could occur constitutes a victimization narrative framed in alarmist terms, designed to reverse the roles by portraying Serbs as existential victims. This technique has been consistently employed to relativize the legacy of Milosevis’s policies and to portray Serbia as the “protector” of a supposedly threatened people. From the perspective of hybrid warfare, the statement contains clear elements of influence operations, including: transferring the narrative from political actors to the Church as a source of moral authority; shifting attention away from Minister Paunovic’s statement toward the alleged “discrimination against Serbs”; amplifying the perceived threat through terms such as “disappearance,” “systematic pressure,” and “persecution”; internationalizing the narrative through appeals to KFOR, the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations. This represents Serbia’s strategic communication model, which uses victimization both as a defensive mechanism against international pressure and as an instrument to redirect that pressure onto the international community itself. The Octopus Institute recalls that the protection of the rights and cultural heritage of minority communities, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, is guaranteed under the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo, in coordination with and under the oversight of Kosovo’s international partners. Therefore, just as they responded to Minister Paunovic’s internationally condemned rhetoric and to the repeated calls on President Vucic to surrender the “hero” Milan Radoicic, the European Union, NATO, and the United States should also take seriously the threat posed by the Serbian Orthodox Church through its glorification of terrorists and its honoring of genocide deniers. Propaganda must not be allowed to disguise itself as humanitarian concern. Otherwise, the transformation of a religious statement into a strategic communication message constitutes a serious challenge to the security and stability of the Western Balkans. #Kosova #Serbia #Paunovic #OrthodoxChurch #Genocide #ethniccleansing

📢 OPEN INVITATION TO THE PUBLIC The Octopus Institute has the pleasure of inviting you to participate in FORUM 2026, on the topic: “Electoral Integrity Under Hybrid Threats: Security Implications of Foreign Interference” 🗓️ Date: May 28, 2026 🕘 Time: 09:30 📍 Venue: Hotel SIRIUS, Prishtina The forum will bring discussions on the challenges of electoral integrity, the impact of hybrid threats, and the implications of foreign interference for national security. 🔹 Participation is open, but for organizational purposes, please contact us at: 📧 Email: [email protected] 📱 WhatsApp: +383 45 666 449 We look forward to welcoming you! #Kosovo #Election #HybridWarfare

March 24, 1999: When the World Said STOP to Milosevic G.K. On March 24, one of the most significant moments in modern European history is marked: NATO’s intervention to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It was not a choice for war, but a response to a reality that could no longer be ignored, the failure of diplomacy in the face of a regime that continued violence against Albanian civilians. The year 1998 had made it clear what was happening. Burned villages, displaced people, destroyed families, and massacres that were being documented daily by international organizations. In this context, the intervention did not come by chance; it came because the situation had moved beyond any control. A difficult international consensus was required to decide that the protection of human life was more important than a “sovereignty” used as a justification for violence, killings, and expulsion. The intervention was not intended to punish a people, but to stop a state policy that was destroying lives. The facts are clear: over 900,000 Albanians expelled, around 13,000 killed, approximately 20,000 women raped, and hundreds of settlements destroyed. Today, 27 years later, beyond historical memory, there is another battle: that of narrative. In Serbia, this event continues to be presented as “NATO aggression,” while what happened before the bombing is relativized or denied. Reçak is called a “staging,” NATO an “aggressor,” Serbia a “victim.” But the truth is simpler: the intervention did not happen without reason. It happened to stop a process of violence unfolding before the eyes of the world. Anniversaries are not only for remembering what happened, but also why it happened. Because when the past is distorted, it becomes a problem for the future. #Kosovo #NATO #March24 #HumanRights #GenocidePrevention #Balkans #HistoryMatters #StrategicNarratives #Disinformation #NeverForget #Serbia

THE SOPHISTICATION OF THE LIE (“Weaponisation of culture” in Serbian propaganda) Author: Prof. Asoc. Dr. Arben Fetoshi - Director at Institute for Hybrid Warfare Studies "OCTOPUS" Serbia continues with sophisticated constructs to manipulate historical truth. “Harvest” is a “film” that has tactically used co-production with some “Americans” to expand the deception of international public opinion through the harshest fabrication against the Kosovo Liberation Army, the United States of America, NATO, and Albania. The masking of Serbian-Russian phantom claims as an “international” project about the Yellow House and organ trafficking, is the most brutal misuse of art, aimed at recycling the dehumanizing narrative against the KLA, on the eve of the decision by the Specialist Chambers in The Hague. In the style of Hitlerian “Big Lie” propaganda, masked with “international” producers and actors, the film is described as a project of “great importance” by the Director of Public Diplomacy, Arno Gujon. Announcing its premiere in Belgrade and its planned worldwide distribution, he claims that through the film, “Serbia is drawing international attention to events during and after the war in Kosovo, which many would like to hide.” It does not matter that they themselves do everything to conceal them, that the “Big Lie” has long been discredited, and that Recak and Srebrenica have documented Serbia’s responsibility, as the hybrid strategy requires repetition and repackaging of the narrative. The denial of war crimes and genocide must maximize “victimhood.” Meanwhile, victimhood becomes possible only through monstrous fabrications, systematically repeated and presented in increasingly advanced “artistic” forms. Through this project, Serbia is attempting to export the “Big Lie,” by emotionally influencing international audiences. The strategy of victimization requires new investments in the face of exposure from investigations such as “Sarajevo Safari” and international reports. So far, the Vucic regime and Gujon have used culture as a “weapon” against Kosovo. RTS documentaries such as “Recak – Truths and Lies” (2009), series like “The Kosovo Dossier” (2021–2024), operatic projects, or international exhibitions are the preceding products of the film “Harvest.” All of them have projected only one goal: the production of a “truth” in which Serbia appears as the victim of Albanians and the West. Therefore, “Harvest” is simply the newest link in this chain of Serbian-Russian disinformation and propaganda. #Kosovo #Serbia #Fake #Harvest

International Forum in Prishtina Democracy Under Threat: Elections as a Geopolitical Battlefield 🗓️ Tuesday, September 30, 2025 | 📍 Hotel Sirius The Institute for Hybrid Warfare Studies "OCTOPUS" gathers ambassadors, academics & experts to discuss: Elections as a geopolitical battlefield Hybrid threats to democracy Safeguarding electoral security & integrity 🎙️ Speakers: Ambassadors from 🇦🇱 🇲🇪 🇩🇪 🇭🇷 and leading scholars from Kosovo. #Democracy #Elections #HybridWarfare #Geopolitics #Kosovo