The shut down of parallel Serbian institutions by Kosovo authorities has been baselessly linked by Serbian officials and media to the narrative of creating a “Greater Albania,” alongside claims of allegedly expelling Serbs from Kosovo.

This narrative is a key element of Serbian propaganda, aiming to fuel ethnic tensions, delegitimize Kosovo’s governance, and undermine the dialogue for normalization between the two countries. Beyond attempting to portray Kosovo as an aggressor state with ambitions to unite with other territories inhabited by Albanians, Serbian politicians seek to frame Kosovo as a threat to regional stability.

On January 19, 2025, Petar Petkovic, the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, gave an interview to the news outlet Newsmax Balkans, available on YouTube, titled: “PETKOVIC: Kurti wants to cleanse Kosovo and M from Serbs and create a Greater Albania | STANCE OF THE WEEK.”

The interview was also shared by other media outlets in Serbia and local Serbian media in Kosovo, such as “Kosovo Online” and “Danas.rs,” with an emphasis on the “Greater Albania” narrative.

Petkovic described the shut down of 35 parallel Serbian institutions as another escalation move by Kurti. Without providing any supporting evidence for this claim, he added that it was not the first time that Kurti, whether before or during the dialogue, has caused new escalatory tensions. “What interests Kurti and is part of Vetëvendosje’s policy is an ethnically clean Kosovo and the creation of a ‘Greater Albania,'” Petkovic stated.

The lack of evidence regarding the alleged “Greater Albania” and the drawn analogy with the situation in the north contributes to the creation of an inaccurate perception and fuels ethnic divisions between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

On January 15, 2025, several parallel municipalities of Serbia, as well as the Postal and Tax Offices, were closed. Police actions were carried out in the municipalities of Lipjan, Obiliq, Prishtina, Fushë-Kosova, Vushtrri, Novobërdë, Kamenicë, Viti, Rahovec, and Skenderaj. The Kosovo Police wrote on Facebook that “the aim of the police operation is to establish order and legality, where the Kosovo Police, based on the request of the Ministry of Local Government Administration, assisted officials from this ministry as well as the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship, and Trade in halting the illegal activities of these institutions.” According to them, all police actions were carried out in cooperation and coordination with the competent institutions, “where, depending on the findings, further legal measures will be taken, in cooperation and coordination with the judiciary.”

Officials and media are making even more frequently unfounded claims that the Government of Kosovo aims to create an ethnically pure “Greater Albania” without Serbs. This interpretation was also applied to the joint session held on December 20, 2024, between the Parliament of Kosovo and the Parliament of Albania. They claimed that this gathering aimed at the creation of a “Greater Albania,” without highlighting the true purpose of the session. In the joint statement, which was read by the Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, Kosovo and Albania pledged to coordinate their “national agenda to achieve common strategic goals.” The statement does not mention any commitment to creating a “Greater Albania,” as falsely claimed by Serbian officials and media.

The realization of a “Greater Albania,” as claimed by Serbian officials, is practically impossible due to a number of constitutional and legal obstacles. The Constitution of Kosovo, drafted and adopted with international support, defines Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state “with no territorial claims against any state or part of any state, and it will not seek to unite with any state or part of any state.” Any attempt to unite with another state, including Albania, would require constitutional amendments, for which the votes of non-majority communities living in Kosovo, including Serbs, are needed.

Both Kosovo and Albania are focused on the process of European Union integration. The unification of the two countries into one state would contradict this objective and hinder progress toward membership.

*This article is published as part of the Western Balkans Regional Initiative against disinformation. “Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub: exposing malign influences through watchdog journalism.”