Friday, 10 April, 2026
Meta.mk

The mobile application StopKorona! is in accordance with the principle of transparency in the processing of personal data

The announced mobile application aimed at providing quick information to health authorities about the identity of the people with which the infected person has been in close proximity in the past 14 days has been developed and is available to the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia. StopKorona! is intended for detecting close contact with potentially infected persons through a procedure for detecting proximity to mobile devices/applications via Bluetooth technology, and its use is based on the consent of the subject of personal data, i.e. voluntary downloading the application.

Before downloading the mobile application, it is recommended that citizens read the Privacy Policy and get acquainted with how their personal data will be protected, what are their rights as subjects of personal data and what are the obligations of the person who processes personal data collected through the mobile application.

After the analysis of the Privacy Policy available at stop.koronavirus.gov.mk, it can be noticed that it contains most of the information needed to inform citizens, and thus respects the principle of transparency in personal data processing.

The recommendation for improving the Privacy Policy is in the direction of providing additional information regarding the following issues:

  • contact information from the Ministry of Health and/or the Personal Data Protection Officer where every citizen will be able to apply for the right to access, correct or delete personal data;
  • in which cases will the Ministry of Health share the data collected through the mobile application with other institutions involved in the process of dealing with COVID-19; and
  • information on whether the Ministry of Health intends, at some point, to transfer personal data to a third country or international organization.

According to the Law on Personal Data Protection, and following the principle of transparency in the processing of personal data, when personal data is collected by citizens, the controller, in this case the Ministry of Health, at the time of collecting personal data, provides the following information: identity and contact details of the controller, contact details for the personal data protection officer, the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended, the legitimate interests exercised by the controller or a third party, users or categories of users of personal data (if any), information on whether the controller intends to transfer personal data to a third country or international organization, the period for which personal data will be stored, the existence of the right of the controller to require access, correction or deletion of personal data, the existence of the right to withdraw consent at any time, the right to submit a request to the Agency for Personal Data Protection, information on whether the controller intends to further process personal data for a purpose other than that for which personal data is collected.

Additionally, the Privacy Policy may contain information and contacts from the institutions responsible for enforcing the laws in the field of personal data protection.

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The Metamorphosis Foundation, through its program Human Rights Online, represents human rights online, helping communities cope with the enormous changes that result from the growing influence of new technologies. Metamorphosis focuses on protecting privacy by strengthening the capacity of citizens, institutions and the business sector to function in a digital society.

Coronavirus, China and a Harvard professor: How fake-newsers did it again

The disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic crisis doesn’t seem to stop. And to make matters worse, the media doesn’t seem to be much more educated and able to stop the fake news spread in its track, despite the serious addressing by multiple experts and institutions about the matter over the last couple of years.

These last months, since the eruption of the coronavirus that became a pandemic and stranded the lives of billions of people around the world, the fake news ‘producers’ have exploited the situation with notable success for them.

But, the major problem with the articles that contain fake news seems to be the fact that the random media are continuously contributing to spread fake news. In order to understand this, we need to assess better the mechanisms behind the news sites, or portals, that are becoming the main tool in the fake news distribution chain.

In general – and we will analyze this thoroughly in another article – the media that uses only online websites to share their news are more prone to become the main distributive hand of false information. A lot of factors contribute to this, but we can say for sure that the lack of necessary resources to function normally, the lack of funds and the rush to pick up easy clicks are some of the conditions.

Let’s take for example one of the lastest slips of the media in the region, including in North Macedonia and Kosovo during the COVID-19 crisis to illustrate how the portals are helping the spread of disinformation. Of course, this does not mean that all the media using online tools to work engage in the same manner, but it does not take much to do great damage.

On Monday afternoon this week, an article appeared on the websites of some of the main online media in Kosovo, which said that Charles Lieber, a distinguished Harvard professor was arrested by United States authorities for ties to a Chinese lab in the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT).

“The United States of America has just identified the person that made and sold the coronavirus to China”, says the very first row of the article that was shared in a portal in Prishtina. The clock said 14:21, Monday April 6. By Friday morning, the article had been deleted.

Approximately an hour later on Monday, the same article with the same text, title, and main image appeared in the biggest circulating news site in Kosovo. Nine minutes later, the same text, title and image were shared by Kosovo public broadcaster online site (rtklive.com). These articles are still up online and can be easily found.

Further, the four-paragraph article says that federal agents were seen at the house of Lieber yesterday morning and that the professor was being accused of receiving 15,000 dollars a month from China and an additional 1.5 million dollars for the research done for the Chinese lab.

A simple search on the internet revealed that this article was first shared on other languages in other countries, and that apparently the Kosovo media had only translated and published it, without doing a simple check on Google to see if the elements on the publication were anywhere near the truth. The news was also shared, with minor changes, by some news sites in North Macedonia the same day, on April 6th.

Snopes, an online fact-checking publication in the U.S. had published an analysis related to fake news and conspiracy theories for the case of Charles Lieber months before the Kosovo media.

An article dating February 18, 2020 written by Dan Evon for Snopes, debunks the story and explains that ‘Lieber’s arrest had nothing to do with the coronavirus and that there is no proof whatsoever that the virus was produced or manufactured by anyone, in China or elsewhere.’

In fact, Lieber was arrested in January 2020 for misleading authorities about the money he allegedly received from the university in Wuhan and related to his connections to a recruitment program financed by the Chinese government.

This was a work of fake news in the most classic form. A true article was taken (Lieber’s arrest), its facts changed and altered to connect with some other worrying situation that would resonate with an uninformed reader (COVID-19), a conspiracy theory was quickly created and fake news articles deceived many people anywhere.

Arian Lumezi

RTK: Službenik UNIMK-a prvi zaraženi korona virusom na severu Kosova, UNMIK demantuje

Službenik UNMIK-a je takozvaninulti pacijent’ u opštinama na severu naseljenim Srbima. Zapravo, on se može nazvati prvom osobom zaraženom korona virusom na čitavoj teritoriji Kosova“, objavila je danas Radio televizija Kosova (RTK) pozivajući se na neimenovani izvor iz Severne Mitrovice. Izvor je navodno osoba koja radi u nekoj drugoj međunarodnoj organizaciji a u tekstu se aludira i na to da je zaražena osoba ruskog porekla.

Želimo da razjasnimo da nijedan član osoblja UNMIK-a nije testiran pozitivno na koronavirus“, demantovano je iz UNMIK-a par sati kasnije.Kosovski javni servis je vest objavio uz objašnjenje da će, „iako takva vest nije još uvek potvrđena“, zatražiti stav UNMIK-a, iz čega prozlazi da je ovaj medij objavio ovakve informacije pozivajući se na neimenovani izvor bez da prethodno zatraži stav druge strane.

RTK u svom tekstu čak donosi i zaključak da je zaraženi službenik UNMIK-a ruskog porekla, na osnovu navodne izjave njihovog izvora.

Dotični službenik se vratio na posao sa odmora, sa simptomima COVID19, 12. marta, i prva tri dana je bio na poslu, ali u to vreme niko ovde nije uzimao virus za ozbiljno“, kazao je izvor a prenosi RTK.

„On se čak šalio da i u slučaju da je zaražen korona virusom, ovaj virus ne bi mogao ništa Srbima na Kosovu, zato što su ih Amerikanci bombardovali ranije i učinili ih imunim na ove stvari“, dalje je, navodno, objasnio.

Kosovski javni servis je, analizirajući njegovu izjavu, naveo da je on ovimželeo da sugeriše da je reč o građaninu države koja nije u prijateljskim odnosima sa SAD, aludirajući na to da je on Rus“.

Par sati kasnije, na adresu Radio televizije Kosova, stigao je demanti UNMIK-a.

Ovaj medij promenio je naslov teksta u „UNMIK negira da među osobljem ima zaraženih korona virusom“. Ipak ostatak teksta je ostao identičan, čak i deo u kome navode da će zatražiti stav UNMIK-a po ovom pitanju. Odgovor koji su dobili od UNMIK-a dodat je na samom kraju teksta.

Pre samo nekoliko dana, 4. aprila, Evropska federacija novinara (European Federation of Journalists) pozvala je novinare na Kosovu da se uzdrže od podsticanja tenzija tokom izveštavanja o zdavstvenoj krizi izazvanoj širenjem korona virusa.

Stavljanje Severne Mitrovice u karantin bilo je propraćeno neprikladnim i neetičkim medijskim izveštavanjem, naveli su iz ove organizacije. Posebnu kritiku dobio je kosovski javni servis – RTK.

Neutemeljene izjave i provokativna pitanja novinara Radio televizije Kosova (RTK) tokom izveštavanja iz Severne Mitrovice“, izazvale su talas reakcija na Kosovu i, kako iz ove organizacije zaključuju, „rizikuju da izazovu tenzije između srpske i albanske zajednice”.

Mediji u regionu prenose neutemeljene tvrdnje makedonskog profesora

Virus Covid-19 nije nov, niti je u pitanju karantinska bolest, a ljudi se “prelako” stavljaju na respiratore. Ovo su neke od tvrdnji koje je u jednoj emisiji na makedonskoj televiziji “Alfa” izneo makedonski infektolog, profesor Velo Markovski. Kako bismo proverili istinitost tvrdnji koje je izneo Markovski, obratili smo se epidemiologu Zoranu Radovanoviću. Ispostavilo se je profesor u svom izlaganju izneo diskutabilne i neutemeljene tvrdnje o virusu.

Video intervju u kome Markovski daje svoje viđenje situacije oko korona virusa emitovan je na makedonskoj televiziji “Alfa”. Ubrzo su ga preneli portali širom regiona, a jedan deo od petnaestak minuta preveden je i na srpski jezik. Na društvenoj mreži fejsbuk podelila ga je stranica Nova borba.

Markovski je između ostalog u intervju rekao da da “nemamo validne serološke testove da bismo dokazali IgM antitela i da kažemo da je ovaj čovek bolestan od korona virusa.”

Radovanović ističe da jeste tačna tvrdnja Markovskog da trenutno nemamo serološke testove kojima može da se dokažu IgM antitela (kao i ranije preležana infekcija, odnosno IgG antitela). Ali, kako navodi, uskoro ćemo ih imati. On dodaje da prisustvo virusa u organizmu možemo da dokažemo PCR tehnikom.

“Prelako se ljudi stavljaju na respiratore”

I respiratori su bili jedna od tema koje se dotakao Markovski u ovoj emisiji. On tvrdi kako se ljudi na respiratore postavljaju “prelako”.

“Jedna studija je rađena sa 180 pacijenata od kojih je polovina umrla. Pacijenti koji su postavljeni na respirator su imali 54% smrtnost, pacijenti koji su isto tako bili kritični a nisu postavljeni na respirator, umrlo je samo negde oko 46%. Znači čak 8% manje umrlih koji su isto tako bili u kritičnom stanju a nisu bili postavljeni na respirator. Hoću reći da razlog jednog dela umrlih u Italiji i Kini su preagresivne metode u medicini”, rekao je Markovski.

Naš sagovornik objašnjava da se “kod nas ljudi uključuju na respirator kad počinju da se guše”.

“U Beogradu je preživljavanje na respiratoru mnogo manje od cifara koje on (Markovski) pominje, ali je to zato što se na aparat uključuju bolesnici za koje je jasno da neće preživeti. Recimo, u terminalnom stadijumu raka pluća. Lekar ne može da dozvoli da pacijent poplavi, a da ne preduzima ništa, makar to bilo produžavanje života za dan-dva”, kaže Radovanović.

“Laici bi karantin u sportsku halu”

Markovski je u emisiji prokomentarisao i to što se sportske sale i drugi prostori preuređuju za lečenje obolelih od korona virusa. Podsetimo, u Srbiji su Sajam u Beogradu, a spotska hala “Čair” u Nišu pretvoreni u takozvani karantin.

Zamislite sad karantin u sportskoj sali. Pa čekajte, želite reći da ćemo žrtvovati te ljude? Pa imamo mi mnogo drugih načina, međutim, eto kako laici razmišljaju”, ističe Markovski.

Radovanović pak, ističe da Markovski “ne razlikuje karantin od privremene bolnice”.

“Karantin je preventivna izolacija za osobe koje su bile u kontaktu sa izvorom zaraze, pa su možda u inkubaciji. Tu je važno međusobno razdvajanje po sobama, kako onaj koji oboli ne bi bolest preneo na ostale u karantinu”, objašnjava on.

Iako je prema njegovom mišljanju hotelski smeštaj najbolje rešenje, ipak, kaže, sportske hale služe smeštanju lakih bolesnika.

“Svi su već zaraženi, pa ne ugrožavaju druge, bar što se tiče te bolesti. U pitanju je vanredno stanje, kao poplava, zemljotres ili slična situacija. To je kao kad se u ratu postavi poljska bolnica za ranjenike. Šta je alternativa, ako je jasno da će bolnice biti prepunjene? Normalno je da se ide na improvizovana rešenja”, zaključuje Radovanović.

“Nije karantinska bolest”

Svetska zdravstvena organizacija objavila je sredinom marta “Razmatranja o karantinu pojedinaca u kontekstu obuzdavanja bolesti korona virusa (COVID-19)” u kojem preporučuje karantin od 14 dana za osobe koje su bile u kontaktu sa zaraženim.

Doktor iz Makedonije je, međutim, tokom svog gostovanja istakao da Covid-19 nije karantinska bolest.

“Zna se lista karantinskih bolesti, to su hemoragične groznice, to je kolera, variola vera za koju smatramo da je iskorenjena”, naveo je Markovski.

Radovanović kaže da nije istina da Covid-19 nije karantinska bolest.

Prema Međunarodnom zdravstvenom pravilniku iz 2005, navodi se da je najpre ovim Pravilnikom bilo obuhvaćeno šest karantinskih bolesti, ali da su kasnije unete izmene kako bi se broj obuhvaćenih oblasti smanjio na tri.

“Ne postoje više klasične karantinske bolesti već narodnozdravstvene hitnosti od međunarodnog značaja. To mogu da budu kuga ili kolera, ali čak i neki nezarazni poremećaji zdravlja. Trenutno taj status ima Covid-19”, objašnjava Radovanović.

Pravilnik iz 2005, tačno je, ima nekoliko inovacija, od kojih je jedna da obim primene propisa “nije ograničen na bilo koju specifičnu bolest ili način prenosa, i obuhvata ‘bolest ili zdravstveno stanje, nezavisno od porekla ili izvora, koje predstavlja ili može da predstavlja rizik da pričini značajnu štetu populaciji’”.

“Ovo je poznat virus koji je prvi put otkriven 1965. godine”, kaže još na početku snimka Markovski.

“Toliko je opasan da su se studenti medicine čak dobrovoljno inficirali njime da vide kakva će biti klinička slika. Tako su videli da spada u grupu virusa koji izaziva prehlade od kojih se mi u toku godine četiri puta razboljevamo“, dodao je Markovski.

On nigde, međutim, ne kaže da se to odnosi na Covid-19.

Naš sagovornik, epidemiolog Zoran Radovanović objašnjava da ima sedam različitih virusa korona, a da je Markovski ovde “mislio na celu grupu virusa korona, a ne na SARS-CoV-2”.

“U prošlom veku otkrivena su četiri koja dovode do nazeba. Sa tri uzroka opasnih bolesti čovečanstvo se suočilo u ovom veku. Za SARS se saznalo 2002-2003, za MERS 2012, a za Covid-19 krajem prošle godine”, ističe naš sagovornik.

Da Markovski nije prethodno mislio na Covid-19, vidimo i na osnovu njegove izjave da “sada imamo nove metode kojima utvrđujemo da je korona virus ili Covid postojao i pre 5 i pre 10 godina, imao je slična epidemijska svojstva, ali ga nismo dokazivali”.

Radovanović objašnjava da Covid-19, ili njegov vrlo blizak srodnik jeste postojao među životinjama “ko zna od kad”. Ali, kako kaže, bolest među ljudima počeo je da izaziva verovatno tek od novembra 2019. godine.

Da je u pitanju nedavno otkriven virus, navodi i Svetska zdravstvena organizacija.

Interesantno je da je ovaj intervju na svoj Jutjub kanal postavio i pokret “Dosta je bilo”, uz navode da je profesor izneo “pravu istinu o korona virusu”. Ovaj pokret je inače mišljenja da su “paniku i histeriju u vezi sa korona virusom su izazvali globalistički mediji (pre svih CNN) i SZO – Svetska zdravstvena organizacija i njeni ‘stručnjaci’.”

Televizija “Alfa”, na kojoj je emitovana emisija, inače, već neko vreme podržava desnicu, odnosno VMRO-DPMNE i Nikolu Gruevskog. Nakon što je Gruevski pobegao u Budimpeštu, ovu televiziju, kao i nekoliko drugih onlajn medija kupila je mađarska kompanija povezana sa Viktorom Orbanom, premijerom Mađarske. A profesor Markovski predaje na Univerzitetu koji je osnovala upravo Vlada VMRO-a.

Milijana Miletic

Metamorphosis: Challenges for privacy protection while implementing the COVID-19 countermeasures

The measures taken for managing the COVID-19 crisis are the focus of governments, public and private enterprises, and the civil society sector around the world. Quite unexpectedly, the dynamic measures largely affect the issue of processing different categories of personal data. The laws on personal data protection, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), are not an obstacle to the implementation of the COVID-19 countermeasures taken to combat the pandemic and they should represent support for protecting citizens’ interests.

Several issues related to the right to personal data protection when adopting new such measures for managing the COVID-19 crisis have caused debate in the Republic of North Macedonia. The first issue is related to the monitoring of the movement of citizens who are in self-isolation through a mobile application, i.e. by monitoring the geo-location, and the second issue concerns the public disclosure of the name, surname and address of residence/stay of the persons in self-isolation.

Following the principles of personal data protection established in the Law on Personal Data Protection, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), special attention should be paid to the legality of personal data processing. Institutions that are directly involved in the implementation and enforcement of COVID-19 countermeasures, process various categories of personal data needed to protect the country’s essential public health interests. It is especially important to note that in emergencies like this one, institutions are not obliged to obtain the consent of citizens for processing personal data. Although the consent of citizens is not a condition for processing personal data, the authorities are obliged to process personal data only for specific and clear purposes, to be transparent and to inform the citizens about the ways of processing their personal data, the volume of processed personal data, as well as the deadlines within which this data will be stored.

Tracking the location on mobile phones

The governments of several European countries believe that tracking the location on mobile phones is a potentially good measure for managing the COVID-19 crisis. According to the processing regulations of telecommunication data, the location data can only be processed by the operator only if it is anonymised or with the prior consent of the individual whose personal data should be processed. However, in emergencies, the exception to this rule states that the Government may adopt measures that will primarily aim at protecting public health and safety, while taking into account the justification of the need, the scope of data and the limitation of the deadlines within which this data will be processed. Before making a decision on the use of such invasive measures, the Government should make a serious assessment of the capacities of those who will be involved in their implementation. This assessment should especially answer the questions of which institutions will have access to this data, who will control the monitoring process, how and at what point will the monitoring of the people who have been cured or whose period of self-isolation has passed be terminated, and whether the state provides adequate judicial protection to persons whose right to personal data protection may be violated daring the implementation of this measure.

Public disclosure of name, surname and address of residence/stay

According to the Law on Personal Data Protection, data related to health, including data on the received health care, are a separate category of data or sensitive personal data. Because of this, it is forbidden to process special categories of personal data unless by exception, i.e. if the processing is necessary for the purposes of public interest in the field of public health, such as protection against serious cross-border health threats or providing high quality standards and health care safety. This exception applies to the volume of personal data collected without the consent of citizens in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 crisis, their sharing between institutions, mapping and the like. This exception does NOT apply to the public disclosure of personal data about infected persons or persons in self-isolation.

Before deciding to take new COVID-19 countermeasures, it is necessary to conduct:

  • extensive consultation with institutions such as the Agency for Personal Data Protection, the Operational Technical Agency, the Ministry of Interior and the relevant civil society organizations operating in the field of human rights protection;
  • analysis of the case law, especially due to the fact that the European Court of Human Rights has made decisions that define the public disclosure of personal data of people infected with the virus as against the law;
  • a serious test of the harmfulness of the application of the envisaged measures in terms of which rights would be violated in the name of protecting the essential interests of the state (violation of the right to privacy, stigmatization of patients and their families, etc.); and
  • analysis of the experiences from the implementation of the same or similar measures in other countries that can serve as an example and lesson for our country.

In consultation with several EDRi members (European Digital Rights Initiative), we present some of the experiences of several European countries.

In the Netherlands, a special government decision stipulates that the Ministry of Health, within 24 hours of receiving a positive COVID-19 test, notify the mayor of the municipality in which the infected person lives about their identity and health condition. The only thing the mayor of the municipality is allowed do is to impose a measure of mandatory domestic or hospital quarantine on the infected person. Also, the mayor can use the help of the police to check whether the person respects the measure without violating the privacy of the infected person. According to the current legal norms in the Netherlands, public disclosure of personal data of infected persons or persons in self-isolation is not an option at all.

Slovakia has released a detailed map with the location of people infected with COVID-19. The map did not contain a name and surname but contained gender and age, and zooming in for more detailed insight into the address was also possible. Experts in the field of personal data protection considered this solution problematic, especially its application for smaller towns and villages where the identity of individuals is easy to detect and stigmatization is unavoidable. Only a few days after the map was published, the Government issued a statement of apology to the citizens where it admits its mistake and the data on the map were reduced only to data on the municipality and the number of infected. The use of the detailed map is strictly limited to institutions responsible for implementing the measures, and this use is regulated by a specially adopted law exclusively for the state of emergency during the pandemic.

In Ireland, stigmatization of people infected with COVID-19 is one of the main reasons why public disclosure of personal data is not allowed. According to the authorities, the disclosure of such data will not result in anything other than a large number of people refusing to be tested just so that they are not made public if the tests are positive. Based on this view, in revealing the first cases, the authorities only announced that they were citizens of the eastern part of the country without specifying the municipalities from which the persons came. When a case of an infected school employee appeared, the name of the school was published, and the media’s interest in finding out the identity of the infected was condemned by the citizens as violation of privacy.

The stance of the Czech Republic on this matter is that the disclosure of personal data of infected persons or persons in self-isolation is dangerous due to the possibility of violence from the environment and stigmatization of the persons. One case strengthened this stance of the authorities, when a team of health workers went in a small area in the Czech Republic to perform a swab test on a young man who had just returned from Peru. The locals, who saw the situation, immediately began to exert pressure on the whole familynot to leave the house or move anywhere in the neighbourhood.

Two mobile applications are used in Israel. The first gives citizens information about whether they are close to a person infected with COVID-19, while the second gives information about whether they are close to a person in self-isolation. Neither application reveals the exact location or identity of the individuals. In addition, Israel is fully using the country’s security infrastructure, including the counter-terrorism measures.

More than 90 countries are implementing similar measures to deal with COVID-19, while keeping an eye on the balance between protecting the public interest and basic human rights.

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The Metamorphosis Foundation, through its program Human Rights Online, represents human rights online, helping communities cope with the enormous changes that result from the growing influence of new technologies. Metamorphosis focuses on protecting privacy by strengthening the capacity of citizens, institutions and the business sector to function in a digital society.

Kako je poziv na saradnju u vezi sa Covid-19 pripisan Briselu?

Mreža nevladinih organizacija okupljenih u okviru Radne grupe Nacionalnog konventa o Evropskoj uniji za Poglavlje 35 potpuno neočekivano je postala, ni manje ni više, nego sama Evropska unija. Neistinito izveštavanje pojedinih medija o saopštenju za javnost koje je uputila ova mreža dovela je do toga da njihovi čitaoci poveruju da je poruka stigla iz Brisela a ne iz Beograda.

Radna grupa Nacionalnog konventa o Evropskoj uniji za Poglavlje 35 je, 30. marta, putem saopštenja za medije, pozvala nadležne organe iz Beograda i Prištine da uspostave direktnu i efikasnu saradnju na suzbijanju širenja pandemije korona virusa. Integralni tekst saopštenja je dostupan ovde. Međutim, u tekstovima pojedinih medija, ovaj apel za saradnju je pogrešno predstavljen kao poruka koje stiže direktno iz sedišta Evropske unije.

Nacionalni konvent o Evropskoj uniji (NKEU) prеdstаvlја mrežu od preko 700 organizacija civilnog društva okupljenih sa ciljem da učestvuje u strateškom dijalogu sa predstavnicima državnih organa Srbije i evropskih institucija po svim pitanjima vezanim za pristupаnje Srbiје Еvropskoj uniji.

Radna grupa NKEU za Poglavlje 35 okuplja organizacije civilnog društva zainteresovane za praćenje realizacije Briselskog dijaloga i procesa normalizacije odnosa između Srbije i Kosova, na način na koji je definisan u okviru pregovaračkog poglavlja 35.

Pod naslovom Kad je kriza, za EU je Kosovo – srpsko“ portal „Sputnjik“ ne samo što iznosi neistinu o telu koje je uputilo saopštenje već ulazi u sebi svojstvenu analizu.

Očito, kad je kriza, u Briselu zaboravljaju da Kosovo sebe smatra nezavisnom državom, što misli i većina članica EU nego ga podvode pod srpsku odgovornost“, navedeno je u tekstu ovog portala.

U saopštenju koje je medijima poslala Radna grupa za poglavlje 35 ni u jednom delu nije bilo reči o statusnim pitanjima već je upućen poziv nadležnima iz Beograda i Prištine da sarađuju kako bi prevazišli krizu izazvanu virusom korona.

Korak dalje ide tabloid „Informer“ koji je preneo tekst Sputnjika ali sa modifikovanim naslovom:KAD JE KRIZA, ZA EU JE KOSOVO – SRPSKO! LICEMERJU BRISELA NEMA KRAJA, sad od nas traže da spasavamo Šiptare od korone, a čim prođe frka ucenjivaće nas da priznamo Prištinu!“. Osim dezinformacija i pogrešnih analiza koje su prenete sa portala Sputnjik, na ovom portalu je iskorišćen i uvredljiv izraz za kosovske Albanace, koji se često može videti u njihovim tekstovima.

Portal „Mondo“ je tesktu dao odmereniji ton, bez korišćenja uvreda, i saopštenje objavio pod naslovom „Da li će korona virus “POMIRITI” Srbiju i Kosovo? EU vidi šansu“. Međutim, neistina da saopštenje dolazi iz sedišta Evropske unije nije izostala.

Da je poziv na saradnju, upućen vlastima sa Kosova i iz Srbije, stigao iz Brisela a ne iz Beograda, odnosno od Radne grupe za pogravlje 35 Nacionalnog konventa o EU, u svom tekstu tvrdi i Al Jazeera Balkans pod naslovom „EU pozvala Srbiju i Kosovo da sarađuju na suzbijanju virusa“.

Informacije iz saopštenja su precizno, uz korišćenje citata, prenete na portalu Crno beli svet pod naslovom „Radna grupa za poglavlje 35 NKEU poziva na saradnju u suzbijanu korona virusa“. Navodi iz saopštenja su na profesionalan način preneti i u nekoliko drugih medija sa Kosova i iz Srbije.

Dezinformacija: Goran Rakić nije rekao broj zaraženih korona virusom na Severu Kosova

Neki od vodećih kosovskih medija izvestili su da je na Severu Kosova 17 osoba zaraženo korona virusom dok je preko 200 lica u samoizolaciji, i da je to saopštio gradonačelnik Severne Mitrovice, Goran Rakić, na sinoćnjoj konferenciji za štampu. Međutim, Rakić u svom obraćanju to nije izjavio.

Kasno sinoć gradonačelnici Severne i Južne Mitrovice, Agim Bahtiri i Goran Rakić, zajedno sa komandatnom KFOR-a Mihaelom Rizijem, održali su konferenciju u vezi sa pandemijom korona virusa na glavnom mostu na Ibru koji od završetka sukoba na Kosovu deli ovaj grad na „srpski“ i „albanski“ deo.

U svojim obraćanjima gradonačelnici su pozvali građane da se pridržavaju propisanih mera zaštite i apelovali na građane da ostanu u svojim domovima.

Pojedini kosovski mediji – Gazeta Express, Insajderi, Indeksonline, Zeri, Epoka e re, Gazeta Blic, Veriu info, izvestili su o ovom događaju ističući u naslovu da je 17 osoba zaraženo korona virusom na Severu Kosova.

„Gradonačelnik Severne Mitrovice, Goran Rakić, saopštio je da je u severnom delu Kosova 17 osoba zaraženo i da je preko 200 građana u izolaciji“, stoji u tekstovima ovih medija.

Međutim, Rakić u svom obraćanju ni u jednom trenutku nije pomenuo broj zaraženih na Severu Kosova, što se i može čuti na video snimku KoSSev portala, čiji novinar je pratio događaj. Kako je ovaj portal naveo novinarska pitanja nisu bila dozvoljena na ovoj svojevrsnoj konferenciji za medije.

Kad je reč o broju zaraženih na Severu, u toku jučerašnjeg dana, zamenik direktora Kliničkog bolničkog centra u Severnoj Mitrovici, dr Zlatan Elek, izjavio je da je u četiri severne opštine na Kosovu, 12 osoba  pozitivno na virus korona, preneo je KoSSev.

Jedino se Klan Kosova u jednom od svojih tekstova pod naslovom „17 zaraženih korona virusom u severnim opštinama na Kosovu“ pozvao na sopstvena saznanja, dok je u drugom „Bahtiri i Rakić sarađuju u borbi protiv korona virusa – 17 zaraženih u severnim opštinama“ informacija o 17 zaraženih lica i preko 200 u izolaciji navedena kao činjenica, bez pozivanja na bilo kakav izvor.

False news and coronavirus go together, online media falls in their trap

“Oh, these newspapers are always lying”, my uncle’s wife said angrily after I told her that still no vaccine or medication has been approved to start being widely used against COVID – 19, the pandemic disease that’s still keeping the world in anguish. She had been reading news from some unreliable news sites in Kosovo with her newly acquired smartphone. After an article about a vaccine had popped up on her screen, she became exultant, hoping that the world was going to go back to normal as it once was.

The article – published in a site that occasionally has been known to rely on false news and disputed information – contained a bombshell title about a vaccine being successfully tested and worked against the novel coronavirus, but after further reading, there was no proof offered that such thing had occurred – different medical teams around the world are still researching and trying to get a vaccine ready, but that is going to take some more time.

My wife’s uncle, who lives in the village where we are now isolated and staying home, removed her glasses and sighed, somewhat getting nervous with her phone. Her algorithm that selected her news articles had gone ‘rogue’ and now it was really tricky for her to distinguish the reliable articles from the fake ones. This whole afternoon occurrence made me think about the importance of the news flow and the needed veracity of the articles shared. Reading news and getting informed should not be only about killing time (although we are stuck in our homes); it is rather a complex process that can have far-fetching effects on people’s lives.

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered waves of misinformation around the world, causing many people to believe unreliable and unchecked information. When people are dealing with a stressful situation and looking forward to a quick solution of the situation, the fake news producers become zealous in their quest to get more clicks and shares.
As Stanford professor Jeff Hancock explains, people seek information during fearful times to reduce uncertainty and to restore their hope.

“This can lead people to believe information that may be wrong or deceptive because it helps make them feel better, or allows them to place blame about what’s happening”, Hancock says.

“This is often why conspiracy theories become so prominent.”

In countries of southeast Europe, research shows that people tend to distrust the information that comes from the internet; be that from the online news sites or social media services. According to a report by EBU Media Intelligence Service titled ‘Trust in Media 2019’, the gap in trust between traditional and new media has grown in recent years. Researchers in the Balkan countries have determined that this fall in the trust in the new media – usually associated with online media – is mostly attributed to the low trust in the media that use the internet to communicate with their readers.

For the first time the 2019 report also showed that more people tend to trust, rather than
distrust, the written press, but the online media are not included in this category. In general, people in the European Union tend not to trust the media, with the trust in social networks and the internet remaining low.

In Kosovo, news portals are usually understaffed and are mostly supplied with news articles that are published in other sites before, a copy-and-paste working practice that has formed a bubble in which the portals circulate information without properly verifying them.
The journalists usually spend their time monitoring other news outlets from their desks and
copying their articles as soon as they appear somewhere else. A journalist usually spends the time reporting from inside the office and publishes around 20 articles per day, while the false and unverified information easily slips through the cracks.

Since the coronavirus crisis exploded, online media sites in Kosovo and in North Macedonia
have repeatedly fallen for false articles that have been previously shared in foreign media, and then zealously translated and published by the media in both countries.
A report that analyses the state of the online media in North Macedonia, published by Medium in 2017, in cooperation with BIRC and Civica Mobilitas, concludes that the online media environment in North Macedonia is almost chaotic; in most of the portals, the name of the author in the articles do not appear while more than half of the context published are taken from other media without even changing the title.

This way, the online media is risking to become a servant of the fake news webs that try to
maximize their activity during extraordinary occasions.

While COVID – 19 ravages across the world, people are using the times at their homes to think and do things for which there wasn’t enough time before the virus. Should the media also think more about their role in spreading disinformation and weakening the belief in the general media?

Arian Lumezi

Antimigrantski talas: Koje se sve neistine šire o migrantima u Srbiji?

Antimigrantski talas sve je glasniji u Srbiji. Iako je, prema poslednjem izveštaju Evropske komisije, Srbija dobila pozitivnu ocenu kada je reč o uređenosti sistema prihvata i upravljanja migracijama, o migrantima se sve ćešće govori u negativnom kontekstu – da kradu, siluju i vrše druga krivična dela po Srbiji. Nezadovoljstvo njihovim boravkom u Srbiji argumentuje se na razne načine – najpre, da im se dodeljuje novčana pomoć, kupuju kuće i stanovi i dodeljuje državljanstvo. A sporno pitanje je i da li je Srbija zaista sklopila ugovor sa Austrijom o vraćanju migranata u našu zemlju. Istraživali smo da li je i šta je od toga zaista istina.

Netrpeljivost prema migrantima koji borave u Srbiji iskazali su za vikend i pripadnici takozvane “Narodne patrole”, preteći im i poručujući da će “svih narednih večeri biti na ulicama i da im se ne isplati da diraju naše žene, našu decu i ljude”. Dok eksperti govore da je ovde reč o rasizmu, tužilaštvo, čini se, reaguje, jer je naložilo da se ispitaju činjenice i okolnosti.

Osim pomenute “patrole”, antimigrantska retorika vidno je prisutna i kod pojedinih političkih partija. Najglasnije u tome su Dveri i Dosta je bilo.

Lider Dveri, Boško Obradović, gostujući početkom februara u emisiji “Utisak nedelje” ukazao je na broj krivičnih dela u Srbiji iza kojih, kako je rekao, stoje migranti. Kako je rekao, on se ne bi “usudio da bude tako opušten” u odnosu na migrante kada uzme u obzir koliko je nasilja, krađa i pokušaja silovanja u Srbiji, ali i u Evropi.

Zamolili smo ga da nam dostavi podatke o broju krivičnih dela koja su izvršili migranti u Srbiji. Međutim, odgovorio nam je da je do tačnih podataka nemoguće doći, jer ih “MUP krije”.

“Imamo samo različite vesti iz raznih srpskih gradova, koje su takođe medijski cenzurisane. Više puta smo se obraćali MUP-u, kao i Vladi Srbije zbog ugovora sa Austrijom, ali nema odgovora na naša poslanička pitanja”, rekao je Obradović za Istinomer.

МUP je na poslanička pitanja Dveri ipak odgovorio u dva navrata.

Tokom 2018. godine, iz MUP-a su u odgovoru na poslaničko pitanje poslanice Dveri naveli da su “142 iregularna migranta, na teritoriji Beograda, Vranja, Valjeva, Novog Pazara, Sombora, Subotice, Kikinde, Sremske Mitrovice i dr. izvršila 101 krivično delo”.

Od januara do oktobra 2019, na teritoriji Vranja, Beograda, Šapca, Novog Pazara, Sombora, Subotice, Kikinde, Sremske Mitrovice i dr. 162 iregularna migranta izvršila su 113 krivičnih dela.

Ne navodi se, međutim, koja su krivična dela u pitanju.

Inače, prema podacima RZS-a, u 2018. je ukupno bilo 92.874 prijavljenih krivičnih dela. Od toga je osuđeno 29.750 ljudi.

Dakle, samo u 2018. bilo je više od 90 hiljada prijavljenih krivičnih dela, a migranti su prema podacima MUP-a u tom periodu izvršili 101 krivično delo.

Kako RZS ne raspolaže podacima o broju krivičnih dela koja su konkretno izvršili migranti, a samim tim ni podacima o tome koja su krivična dela u pitanju, obratili smo se MUP-u. Međutim, odgovore nismo dobili.

Dakle, analizirajući priložene podatke, ne može se govoriti o broju krađa i pokušaja silovanja, kao i drugih oblika nasilja od strane migranata.

 

Đurović: Migranti jedna od najmirnijih populacija

U Srbiji, inače, prema procenama Centra za zaštitu i pomoć tražiocima azila, trenutno boravi preko 7.000 migranata. Radoš Đurović, direktor Centra, govoreći o ponašanju migranata, kaže za Istinomer da je, u odnosu na ukupan broj stanovnika u Srbiji, broj krivičnih dela koja su oni izvršili “insignifikantan”.

“Uglavnom su to sukobi između njih samih, odnosno narušavanje javnog reda i mira, ili sitne krađe u prodavnici. Ozbiljnijih krivičnih dela ima jako malo. ‘Migrant’ je vrlo neodređen pojam i migranti neku zajedničku karakteristiku, osim toga što su napustili svoju kuću, nemaju. I mogu da kažem da su jedna od najmirnijih populacija”, kaže Đurović.

Da je bilo sukoba između migranata, potvrđuju i novinski naslovi. Naime, u junu prošle godine, jedan migrant iz Avganistana je ubijen u Karađorđevoj ulici. Utvrđeno je da ga je usmrtio njegov sunarodnik, koji je ubijen nešto kasnije iz osvete.

 

“Niko nije dobio državljanstvo”

Od početka migrantske krize, kroz Srbiju je prošlo više od milion ljudi. Neki od njih su ostali u Srbiji, a neki su u Srbiju vraćeni iz drugih zemalja.

U Srbiju je u periodu od 1. januara 2018. do 25. novembra 2019. godine, u skladu sa Sporazumom sa EU o readmisiji, vraćeno 59 državljana trećih država, podaci su MUP-a. U istom periodu, 11.663 stranih državljana izrazilo je nameru da podnese zahtev za azil, dok je azil zatražilo 210 osoba.

“Nijedan migrant sa područja Afrike, Avganistana, Irana, Iraka i Sirije nije primljen u državljanstvo Republike Srbije”, naveli su iz MUP-a.

Međutim, podsetimo da je predsednik Srbije Aleksandar Vučić ponudio još avgusta 2017.  državljanstvo mladom slikaru, dečaku Farhadu Nuriju iz Avganistana i njegovoj porodici, a da im je državljanstvo i dodeljeno aprila 2018.

Drugi zahtev pokreta Dveri ticao se broja migranata koji su tražili azil u Srbiji u periodu od 1. jula 2011. do 31. decembra 2016. godine, kao i broj onih kojima je priznato pravo na utočište ili im je dodeljena supsidijarna zaštita.

Supsidijarna zaštita, prema Zakonu o azilu i privremenoj zaštiti, predstavlja “zaštitu koju Republika Srbija odobrava strancu koji bi u slučaju povratka u državu porekla ili državu uobičajenog boravišta bio izložen trpljenju ozbiljne nepravde i koji ne može ili koji se zbog takve opasnosti ne želi staviti pod zaštitu te države”.  

Ukupno je 618.412 stranih državljana tražilo ili izrazilo nameru da traži azil u navedenom periodu. Od toga, najviše je bilo Sirijaca – 316.224, zatim 171.867 državljana Avganistana i 79.165 Iračana.

Pravo na utočište ili supsidijarnu pomoć u periodu od 1. aprila 2008. do kraja 2016. dobilo je 88 ljudi, a od toga je azil u obimu izbegličke zaštite dobila 41 osoba. Ostalima je dodeljena supsidijarna zaštita.

 

Sporni ugovor sa Austrijom

Оbradović je u svojim ranijim izlaganjima spominjao i ugovor sa Austrijom koji je Srbija potpisala, a tiče se upravo vraćanja migranata u Srbiju.

Iako domaće vlasti o jednom ovakvom ugovoru i ne govore, bivši ministar unutrašnjih poslova Herbert Kikl bio je jasan kada je u septembru 2019, gostujući u emisiji “U centru” na austrijskom javnom servisu, rekao da je sa Srbijom sklopio ugovor prema kojem će migranti, kojima je u Austriji odbijen zahtev za azil, biti vraćeni u Srbiju. Kako je rekao, pokušali su da “zavrnu šrafove kako bi se napravila razlika da li neko ima legalno prebivalište ili ne”.

 

Da je takav ugovor postojao, Kikl tvrdi i dalje, ali dodaje da ne zna šta se desilo sa tim ugovorom nakon što je otišao sa vlasti.

“Sada mogu to da kažem: tokom ministarskog mandata sam naložio da se ispregovara ugovor sa Srbijom u kojem smo se saglasili da tamo zajednički upravljamo povratničkim centrom. Tamo bismo mogli da pošaljemo ljude koji nemaju pravo na azil, ali koje njihove matične zemlje ne žele da prime“, rekao je Kikl u intervjuu za austrijski “Klajne cajtung”.

Da li taj ugovor postoji ili se, pak, temelji na Sporazumu Državne zajednice Srbije i Crne Gore sa Austrijom iz 2003. u vezi sa „vraćanjem i prihvatanjem lica sa nelegalnim boravkom“, na nivou je špekulacija.

O broju migranata govorio je i predsednik Vučić. On je krajem oktobra 2019. rekao da će Srbija “do 2028-2030. napraviti nulti migracioni saldo”. Odnosno, imaćemo jednak broj emigranata i imigranata.

“Posle 2030. imaćemo veći broj imigranata nego emigranata, što je jedna od stvari koja može da pomogne u opstanku Srbije”, rekao je Vučić.

Kuće i stanovi za migrante – neistine?

U prihvatnim centrima i centrima za azil, kojih ima 17 u Srbiji, sada je smešteno 4.427 migranata, od toga 807 dece. Prema podacima koje na svom zvaničnom sajtu navodi Komesarijat za izbeglice i migracije, najviše ih je iz Avganistana, Sirije, Pakistana, Iraka i Bangladeša.

Prema izveštaju Evropske komisije za 2019. godinu, u državnim centrima smešteno je između 80 i 90 odsto migranata. Srbija im obezbeđuje “značajan obim zdravstvenih usluga kroz svoju redovnu zdravstvenu službu”, a deci je obezbeđeno školovanje.

Pažnju javnosti izazvale su priče o tome da država novčano pomaže migrante koji su ostali u Srbiji, kao i da im kupuje kuće i stanove.

Đurović na te navode odmahuje. Ističe da postoje ljudi koji su dobili azil, a nisu smešteni u prihvatnim centrima, pa tako mogu konkurisati za socijalnu pomoć. Ali, to ne znači da će je nužno i dobiti.

Pomoć je migrantima dodeljivana, ali je donator uglavnom bila Evropska unija.

“EU kroz različite projekte pomaže Republici Srbiji i obezbeđuje humanitarnu pomoć za migrante, njihovu zaštitu, a posebno dece, adekvatne uslove smeštaja i života u prihvatnim i centrima za azil, uključujući hranu, zdravstvenu negu i obrazovanje, pomoć lokalnim zajednicama gde su smešteni migranti kako bi se ojačala socijalna kohezija, pomoć Republici Srbiji pri upravljanju granicama i borbi protiv trgovine ljudima, kao i pomoć za izgradnju kapaciteta institucija Republike Srbije koje su uključene u upravljanje migracijama”, navodi se na sajtu euinfo.

Do sada je EU donirala više od 98 miliona evra direktne pomoći koja je otišla u ruke državnih institucija, lokalnih samouprava, ali i međunarodnih i organizacija civilnog društva, kao i krajnjim korisnicima.

(Istinomer.rs)

Reporting challenges in the Balkans include disinformation hazards

At the height of disinformation dissemination, journalists in Kosovo argue that reporting challenges throughout the region have increased immensely.

The professionals argue that the media outlets who do not have physical presence throughout the Balkans should pay extra care to filtering the information they republish but should also be very cautious which media outlets’ content they republish.

The multiple award winning investigative journalist, Serbeze Haxhiaj, who works as an editor at Kosovo’s Public Broadcaster, but also as a reporter for the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), says that the developments in the region are in the focus of her professional interests.

The regional offices of BIRN, she says, are a value for providing accurate information and the context of the news and for journalistic investigations, but challenges remain.

“Anyway, this often doesn’t help, because of the media landscape and the struggle to get the information on time. Also, the mechanisms that are supposed to help get this information, such as the Law on public documents access or the Ombudsman have been proven ineffective for improving this situation”, she says.

Haxhiaj highlights the role that agenda-serving media outlets play in launching and distributing propaganda.

“The main source of fake news or propaganda distribution are mainly the media outlets which are connected with the groups in power, but also with the opposition groups, part of them also with interest groups that generally dominate the media scene”, she claims.

The investigative journalist criticizes the way the media function, which, she argues, “are informal businesses with uncontrolled humongous sums”,

A serious analysis of political or social events is what Haxhiaj claims is missing in the regional media landscape.

“The public is being fed mainly superficial and unverified news, while the technological development and the enormous increase of the number of online media is pushing the media towards tabloid culture and reduces the number of genuine investigations that provide the full picture”, Haxhiaj wraps.

No one in Kosovo at the moment has clue of the real number of the registered media outlets, especially news sites.

RTV 21 is one of three televisions that broadcast nationally. The other two are KTV and the public broadcaster RTK, which also has a North Macedonian branch.

TV reporting on regional issues brings additional burdens, according to Durim Nitaj, a reporter for RTV 21.

He says that RTV 21 in North Macedonia has been a huge help in producing a wider coverage on the Balkans for Kosovo’s audience.

“When you have to deal with news from the region and you don’t have someone on the field, it’s very difficult. It is even harder when you don’t have collaboration with reliable media in the respective country”, Nitaj says.

He states that this puts an obligation to the journalists to do comparative analyses of different reports from different media in the region.

“The risk of fake news is always present. The pressure to be the first to report something has often caused fake news or misinformation spread. This happens if you rely on suspicious media or don’t have relaible sources in your newspiece”, he argues.

The professional war on “fake news”

Fake news is being spread by the politicians, whose sole mission sometimes is to discredit media, but also it is countered by the professionals in the field.

Faton Ismajli, teaching assistant at the Journalism Departament of the Prishtina University “Hasan Prishtina”, states the importance of training journalists and editors to combat disinformation.

He stresses that the risk of disinformation increases in the Balkans.

Ismajli advises media outlets to train their staff for identifying false information.

“In order to eliminate the distribution of fake news, journalists should be further trained and educated to not fall prey to those kind of information. Besides journalist’s trainings, media outlets should intensify their efforts in other instances, such as the editor’s desk who should filter news and not publish unbalanced news that don’t have the necessary sources”, he concludes.

Profesional media in Kosovo have also been trying to differentiate themselves from online publishers that release unverified information and often fake news.

KALLXO.com, an online investigative media (product of BIRN and Internews Kosova) have launched a fact checking task force called “KRYPOMETRI” which besides the statements, measures the truthfulnes of the media products, as well.

In their publications they have pinpointed media who publish disinformation ranging from fake fires to fake deaths, but also misinformation about court proceedings.

Doruntina Baliu, journalist and editor with BIRN Kosovo

International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Auschwitz in pictures

United Nations have declared January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the genocide over 6 million Jews and 11 million others, by the Nazi regime and its collaborators during the Second World War.

On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated by the Red Army.

By presenting a series of original Public Domain photographs and their descriptions from the online archive Znaci.net, digitised from the museums of former Yugoslavia, Meta.mk and Portalb.mk support maintining of memory of one of the most horrific periods in the history of humanity. Remembrance is a precondition for prevention of the terror resulting from extreme nationalism which started through hate speech and backsliding from democracy.

The Auschwitz concentration camp was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Southern Poland. Of the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz after its opening in May 1940, 1.1 million were murdered with poisonous gas, through starvation, exhaustion, disease, individual executions or beatings, and during medical experiments.

The death toll includes 960,000 Jews, 74,000 non-Jewish Poles, 21,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and up to 15,000 other Europeans.

Most of the prisoners were brought to Auschwitz in special railway transports, in cattle wagons with a bit of hay on the floor.

After the prisoners would exit the wagons, the Nazs separated the men on one side, andthe women and children on another.

Auschwitz. The camp fence consisted of concrete pillars and electric barbed wire.

Nazi “experts” conducted strict selection of the newly arrived prisoners, separating the infirm, sick, people with disabilities and children from those fit for work. (Part of these people were immediatelly sent to gass chambers without listing them into the camp evidence, which is thereason why the total number of victims and their identity remains unkown.)

Roll call of newly arrived female prisoners in the Birkenau concentration camp.

All belongings were taken from the prisoners and brought to the camp chamber called “Canada.”

Block 10 in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where “medical experts” conducted medical experiments over the prisoners, so called vivo-experiments.

Five crematoria whose furnaces burned 24/7 were built in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. (Before retreating the Nazis blew some of them up in attempt to cover up their crimes.)


Red Army units liberated about 4.800 prisoners of Auschwitz concentration camp who remained after their Nazi guards left. They included 108 Yugoslavs – the photo shows the members of the Mandić family with Soviet troops.

Nazis arrested the 10-year old Oleg Mandić, his mother and grandmother in their home Rijeka (Croatia) in May 1944 after his father and grandfather joined the partisans – the Yugoslav Communist anti-fascist resistance army. After severa months spent in jails in Croatia and Italy, they were sent to Auschwitz as “political prisoners.” They spent eight months in the death camp.

At first Oleg first spent two months laboring in the women’s section with his mother and grandmother. When the Nazis found out that he turned 11 they sent him to the men’s section. However, as he developed high temperature due to stress, he was sent to examination in the medical experiments ward run by Dr. Mengele where he stayed under examination several weeks. He learned to manipulate the thermometer and devised other ways to remain interesting as observation subject.

Oleg Mandić, his mother Neveka and grandmother Olga were the last alive prisoners who left Auschwitz.

This film, which Mandić saw for the first time 20 years later during a visit to Auschwitz, depicts the moment when they received a letter from Stalin’s assistant Nikolai Bulganin, ordering their transport to Moscow by truck via Krakow. In Soviet capital they joined a Yugoslav delegation led by Tito, returning with them to Belgrade by airplane on May 1, 1945.

Mandić, who is now 86, devoted his life to promoting the truth about the Holocaust. He led an antifascist NGO in Opatija, Croatia, organizing an exhibition, lectures, as well as annual group visits to Auschwitz museum on the day of liberation of the camp.

In 2015 at the occassion of 70th anniversary of the liberation he state that he still gets chills down his spine when thinking about „the notion that human mind was devoted to devising  industrial production of death.“

Posted in MKD

Alternative medicine magazines continue to promote Putin’s cult in North Macedonia and the region

The network of magazines promoting the ‘brand Russia’ and Putin’s image in the form of alternative medicine advice continues to operate in most states following the breakup of Yugoslavia.

In April 2019, Meta.mk released an analysis indicating the impact of two magazine networks coming from Serbia, that are also distributed through direct exports to Bosnia and Montenegro and/or through local publications in North Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia in local languages.

The most prominent are “Russian Doctor” of the media conglomerate “Color Media Plus” and “Russian Herbalist” of the publishing house “Novosti“, which are accompanied by a number of other similar publications. Judging by the graphic design and the low price, their main target group is the older population, especially the retirees, who are at the same time important as a sound part of the electorate.

These magazines continue to commercially exploit the positive perceptions of Russia and its culture that were already present in some of the Balkan populations, further contributing to reinforcing the propaganda positions of Putin’s regime.

Thus, for example, in the latest, January issue of the Macedonian edition of “Russian Doctor”, the front page content is the “exclusive” article about “Putin’s 10 secrets to health”. Proper nutrition and morning gymnastics are presented as “secrets” in this article, but sports such as skiing, hockey, horse riding and fishing are mentioned, which are largely beyond the financial reach of the target (retired) audience.

The front page also introduces a “discovery” “straight from the Kremlin” that “Putin chooses traditional medicine”, announcing an interview with Putin’s personal doctor, Dr. Sergei Mironov, which despite the headline demonstrates a team of doctors that care for the Russian President by “developed medical-sports program”.

Presenting the 67-year-old Russian autocrat as a young, masculine and healthy athlete is one of the basic postulates of a propaganda narrative that presents him as a ruler with “extraordinary work ability and excellent performance”, according to Mironov.

Unfortunately, despite the “forever young”, populist, “eternal” and “irreplaceable” president/prime minister, the facts about Russia show that most of its people experience a decline in the quality of the health system and other state services.

The London Times” recently suggested that one eighth of Russians survive with less than 175 euros a month and that “there is no sign that the gap between the rich and the poor will decrease any time soon.”

Financially unavailable to most readers are Putin’s favorite “potions” such as Spanish red wine and “special cocktails with a large amount of ice – 50ml champagne, lemon juice, mint, syrup”. For that matter, alcoholism is one of the most important causes of high mortality in Russia.

Contrast between propaganda for internal and external use
Given the fact that most of the contents of such magazines are taken from Russian originals, most probably through licensing, their contents give insight into what is being served to Russian readers. According to World Bank data on average life expectancy by country, Russia, with 71.6 years, is at the bottom of Europe’s level, which is an indicator of insufficient access to health services for the entire population.

Thus, the content promoting various “traditional remedies” distractsat least part of the audience,from the quality or (un)availability of public health services, or offers some comfort or “alternative”. This propaganda tendency is useful not only for the Russian oligarchy regime, but also for the regimes of the Balkan states that have similarly degraded the quality of the health system in their countries.

However, the penetration of some of the content intended for Russian audience points to a contrast. Unlike the activities of the Russian troll armies spreading anti-vaxxer propaganda in EU and NATO countries, their allies and candidate countries, internally, in Russia, the state promotes vaccination. Thus, among other data about Putin’s health, “Russian Doctor”, according to Putin’s press secretary,informs that he got the flu vaccine.

Even the Russian Orthodox Church, whose views against compulsory vaccination represent a reference to Balkan anti-vaxxers, has dissociated from situations where the state would declare an epidemic.

Commercial promotion of pseudoscience and false hopes forlifesaving cures

In addition to the propaganda function, the commercial pages of this magazine are filled with advertisements from various local and regional fortune tellers and healers who offer horoscope consultations or promise miraculous remedies and cures, including “cure for any cancer, with or without metastasis” by a certain “Doctor Cvetin, who runs “the first online neuropathic clinic for cosmic medicine in the Balkans”. He claims to be diagnosing diseases via Viber or WhatsApp” in collaboration with a Russian colleague”.

The magazine ads contain many similar terms that sound scientific but have nothing to do with medicine,such as “medicinal herbal candies – a new kind of cell cosmic food”, “informotherapy“, “quantum medicine” by people photographed in white coats or with titles from “academies” – firms that are neither scientific nor medical institutions.

The dubious credibility of the ads is also confirmed by the fact that the newspaper, on the third pagehas repeated twice the following “information plus” which states that the publisher “Color Media Plus” and the editorial board “are not responsible for the content and the truthfulness” of the commercials, advertisements and promotions.

In this sense, “Russian Doctor”, in extremely small print, is trying to legally dissociate itself from lawsuits, stressing that “for the truthfulness of the ads are responsible only those who advertise it, and that for the quality of the products for a particular disease are responsible only those who recommend it as a remedy. Also, the editorial board and the company are not obliged to give any explanations in written or electronic form or by telephone.

Drastic decline of attacks and threats on journalists after 2017

In the past two years, the number of cases of violation of jurnalists’ rights in the country has decreased by four times. If in 2017, 20 cases such as these were registered, the Association of Journalists (AJM) has registered only 4 such incidents where one was a physical attack n a journalist and in three cases there was a verbal assault. Over the years, the weight of the violation of journalist rights has decreased and during 2018/19 there were primarily verbal assaults on journalists and media workers.

During the period between 2014-2019, on part of AJM, 57 cases of violation of journalists’ rights were evidenced. The most severe date is the attacked known as the “Bloody Thursday” on the 27th of April when 6 physical attacks on journalists and media workers were registered. The violations during the turbulent period between 2015 and 2017 are even more drastic and apart from physical assaults, there was a destruction of property and threats.

In the Foundation Metamorphosis’ publication about the evaluation of Republic of Macedonia’s advancement in the meeting of political criteria necessary for the EU membership, regarding the media reforms, it states that the treatment of journalists has changed with the change of the government structures in 2017. The high ranking officials and other persons have withheld from issuing threats and insults towards journalists, which has led to decline of cases of violation of journalists’ rights. The court has set a sentence of 6 months imprisonment for the first time because of an attack on a journalist.

Further, the publication states that most of these violations in the period after the year 2017 are either solved or are in the process of being solved, and what gives hope is the fact that the improved condition was registered by the Regional Platform for Advocating Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety.

Despite these improvements, the Independent Syndicate for Journalists in Macedonia and the Association of Journalists of Macedonia are continuously demanding from the authorities to conduct changes in the Criminal Code which will help to find a way for a more sever punishment in the criminal code. These demands are continuously repeated with each new registered violation such as the recent case of issued threats and insults on part of Emil Jakimovski towards journalists Meri Jordanovska and Iskra Koroveshovska.

Norvežanin iz Oregona sa leprom od mačora zapalio Kuran, provereno iz Indonezije u BiH

”Raskrinkavanje”, servis za proveru činjenica i borbu protiv dezinformacija iz Bosne i Hercegovine istražio je i opovrgao jednu neistinu koja je postala vrlo viralna na društvenim mrežama i objavljena je na jednom portalu, a u sebi nosi elemente širenja verske netrpeljivosti.

Reč je naime o fotografiji čoveka u bolničkom krevetu u teškom stanju, o kojem su portal “Saznajemo” i neke Fejsbuk stranice pisale da je reš o Norvežaninu koji je u vrlo teškom stanju kao kažnjen od Boga zato što je zapalio Kuran. “Raskrinkavanje” je pažljivo istraživalo i utvrdilo da se ista priča širila i na indonezijskim Fejsbuk grupama i nekim portalima, ali da je tvrđenje apsolutna laž.

Na fotografiji napravljenoj pre sedam godina ustvari je Pol Gejlord iz Oregona, koji je bio zaražen leprom od svog mačora, ali je zatim izlečen.

Srpski servis za proveru činjenica ”Istinomer“, pak, povodom svoje desetogodišnjice bavi se izborom laži decenije i najpoznatijeg obećanja političara i funkcionera koje nije ispunjeno.  Spisak “kandidata” može se videti ovde.

Petak nije crni zbog robova u SAD-u, a od malih HEC ućaruju investitori

Da li termin “Crni petak”, dan potrošačke groznice, kada trgovci nude ogromne popuste, a kupci ponekad “ginu” i biju se da kupe nešto uz ogroman popust potiče od trgovine robovima u SAD-u ili je njegovo poreklo drugačije,  pitanje je kojim se bavi  hrvatski servis za proveru činjenica i borbu protiv dezinformacija “Faktograf”.

Poneseni izobiljem deljenja na društvenim mrežama, od strane govornika na hrvatskom jeziku, ”činjenice” da termin Crni petak proizlazi iz toga da su se robovi dovedeni iz Afrike u SAD petkom prodavali po bagatelnoj ceni, novinar “Faktografa” istraživao je i utvrdio da se termin javlja prvi put 1951. godine – mnogo kasnije od ukidanja ropstva u SAD-u.

Prema “Faktografu”, termin najsigurnije proizlazi iz činjenice da su zaposleni u SAD-u veoma često uzimali bolovanje kako bi spojili Dan zahvalnosti (koji se uvek pada zadnjeg četvrtka u novembru) sa vikendom i da tako dobiju ukupno četiri slobodna dana (Dan zahvalnosti je neradni dan u SAD). Iako se daju i druga moguća tumačenja, sasvim je izvesno da Faktograf pokazuje da Crni petak nema veze sa trgovinom robovima.

Srodni srpski servis “Istinomer”  ocenjivao je izjavu srpske premijerke Ane Brnabić da zemlje koje se mnogo više od Srbije brinu o životnoj sredini i imaju dužu tradiciju čuvanja i brige o svojim lokalnim zajednicama, nastavljaju da grade male hidroelektrane.

Ta izjava je usledila posle brojnih protesta po Srbiji protiv izgradnje  malih električnih centrala na vodeni pogon. “Istinomer” citirajući činjenice, ne samo što ovu izjavu raskrinkava kao neistinu, već utvrđuje i da je korist od malih hidroelektrana mnogo veća za njihove investiture nego za građane i državu.

Българска „Дума“ с много некоректни и гневни „думи“ за Македония

Българският ежедневник с лява ориентация „Дума“ в коментар публикуван на 2 декември на официалния уебсайт, посветен на последната сесия на Съвместната българо-македонска комисия за историческите въпроси, твърди няколко очевидно необосновани неща за отношенията между България и Македония.

В текста се говори, че има предателство на българските власти – т.е. отказ от идентичността, отстъпление от историята за да „угоди на американския план за Балканите“, който „с нищо не промени отношението на Скопие“, чийто „претенции продължават агресивно да растат“. Освен това се казва, че Македония ще се присъедини към НАТО „въпреки антибългарското й поведение“, и че това ще „даде импулс на Скопие да предявява още и още претенции, а България ще трябва да се съобразява с ‚новите балкански реалности’, налагани отвъд Океана“.

Но гневният, нереалистичен, максималистки коментар не спира дотук. На автора пречи и използването на македонски език в структурите на ЕС, когато Македония стане част от съюза. „Утре евроатлантическата политкоректност ще наложи и използването на ,македонски език’ като работен в структурите на ЕС, а България ще „духа супата“. И току виж някой ден се появят и териториални претенции към Пиринския край“, се казва в коментара.

Ако не се споменава България, „антибългарско поведение“, човек ще си помисли, че става дума за текст, излязъл от гръцките ултранационалистически кухни.

Независимо, този коментар противоречи на истината.

На първо място, македонският език съществува и е признат от ООН и света. Колкото и да не се харесва това на някои крайно десни българи (в случая прикрити като леви), този и такъв език ще се използва в ЕС, след като се присъединим към съюза, ако този съюз иска да остане последователен на собствените основни ценности.

Второ, в своята омраза към Македония и македонците автора си позволява да припише някакви намерения, териториални претенции (въпреки че Македония ясно декларира добросъседски намерения в Договора с България), но още повече да се оплаква, че България е губещата страна в разговорите на Съвместната комисия.

За разлика от това, фактите говорят нещо повече. Българските членове на комисията, започвайки от Ангел Димитров, през Наум Кайчев, па до всички останали, както и историци, които не са част от комисията, скъсаха железни обувки тичайки от една българска медия до друга, за да демонстрират твърдост към напълно легитимните аргументи и предложения на македонската страна, настоявайки за българско тълкуване.

Освен това и българският парламент прие Декларация, а българското правителство постави 20 условия, които Македония ще трябва да изпълни, за да може да напредва в преговорите за присъеднияване към ЕС. И всички до един са абсолютно крайни (или ще приемете, че нещата са както ние казваме, или ще блокираме преговорите ви). А това не звучи съвесм като като губеща позиция, нали.

Като цяло, за добре известната българска теза за българския характер на нетурското, неалбанското, невлашкото население на Македония от незапомнени времена до днес сме писали няколко пъти, оповергавяйки този максимализъм позовавайки се на съдържанието на руски, турски, австро-унгарски, германски, британски архиви съвсем правилно предадени в македонската историография, че голяма част от населението във времето назад до Средновековието, не се е декларирало единодушно като българско, а е имало и македонци, които са били преброявани в отделна графа … Неупътените, като един пример за безпристрастен труд по темата, може да потърсят книгата „Македонският възел“ на Ханс Лотар Щепан, първият немски посланик в независима Македония.

Personal data protection process may go in reverse because the DPDP has no director

It has been almost a year and a half since we submitted the draft Law on Personal Data Protection to the Ministry of Justice. After being heavily scrutinized and amended, it was harmonized with the GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation) and it is high time to be adopted, because the only thing remaining is to be voted in parliament. I hope that the adoption of this Law will not be prevented by factors that now threaten, i.e. the political impediment – Parliament not voting on the law before dissolving because of early elections, said Igor Kuzevski from the Directorate for Personal Data Protection (DPDP) on today’s round table “Legal consistency of GDPR and Police Directive 2016/680 in the national legislation”, held within the 15th International Conference „E-Society.mk – Open Institutions and Accountability“ in Skopje organized by the Metamorphosis Foundation.

He warned that, even if Parliament adopts the Law as soon as possible, there is another, perhaps more serious obstacle – the Directorate still has no director, half a year after the previous resigned, which makes everything much more difficult.

– Regardless of when we will enter the EU, we must comply with the GDPR first and foremost for our own sake. We have seen that no one can be immune to abuse. We experienced this with the case of our Prime Minister and with similar cases such as the ones of the German Chancellor Merkel, the President of Kosovo, etc. The law was reviewed article by article, paragraph by paragraph, until the final provisions and I believe and hope that the hour of its adoption will come sooner, for our own sake. Unless a director is appointed and the law is adopted, we will have a transitional regime in which the DPDP will have to give life to that Law through by-laws. But not having a director would prevent us from doing so, since there would be no one to officially adopt them. It will allow all the controllers to have a justification for not doing anything in terms of checking how personal data is collected and handled – said Kuzevski.

Viktor Dimovski, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), also participated in the round table, and said that as a new body, the Agency is still in the process of drafting the by-laws for its functioning, but they are careful to draft them compliance with the European regulation. Dimovski assured that they would certainly strive to be maximally transparent about their work.

– According to the Law on NSA we have to cooperate with the DPDP, they are our controllers by law. We made the first steps with the competent parliamentary oversight bodies, and in the three months since we started functioning we had a total of 6 meetings with the two parliamentary bodies for supervising the security services, which is more than all the meetings before. It is an illustration of our openness to cooperate with all control bodies, and we will be fully open to cooperation and will enable the control by the DPDP. I hope that they will soon overcome the current problems and be able to fully perform their function – said Dimovski.

Jean Ellermann, a specialist in personal data protection, i.e. Personal Data Protection Officer from Europol, also participated in the roundtable, and warned that misuse of personal data despite well-established legal frameworks such as the GDPR, can occur consistently and in all EU and non-EU states. Ellermann said that the situation between the EU member states, and those outside the EU is not much different in terms of the bad image of the personal data protection officers in the eyes of officials, who perceive them as some sort of “tormentors” and people who constantly try to sabotage them.

– But a good officers perceive their job as a police officer in a police department, and this has to include the trust factor. Officers must find ways to help the organization. However, that is sometimes difficult, as the data protection officer is often asked for advice only after officials have started collecting data – he said.

Dragana Stojkovikj, from the Office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection from Serbia, and prof. Trpe Stojanovski PhD, from the Faculty of Security at the “St. Kliment Ohridski” University in Bitola, participated in the debate moderated by Elena Stojanovska from the Metamorphosis Foundation.

According to professor Trpe Stojanovski, as one of the most knowledgeable people involved in the whole process, things are worse nowadays even though there is a higher degree of legislation and much more documents.

– It does not mean that previously, in the past, when there were no such legal frameworks, the police did not take personal data into account. An extremely high level of care was taken with handling this data. We were also very discrete and respected the professional approach in using the data. These were internal guidelines with legal force, but now they must be analyzed from the prism of that social moment. In that time, the system in Macedonia was a one-party or totalitarian system – said Stojanovski.

He mentioned that since 2005 he has been involved in drafting appropriate regulations that would protect the rights of citizens, such as the Law on Police and the Law on Internal Affairs, and although efforts for legislative changes have been made with the best of intent and with consultation and transposition of the European regulation, the implementation in practice shows many weaknesses and measures have to be taken.

He repeated that although the legislation is now well established, its practice is “at a second or third level”.

– The foundations have been laid but must be regulated more firmly and this message must be addressed to the top management in the national institutions. Therefore, “Metamorphosis”, the watch-dog on this issue which has a much greater importance than what the public knows, shows that civil society, which is well-versed in the issue, should be heard by the state and the remarks given by them should be applied – Stojanovski said.

 

Facebook joins the fight against disinformation by removing three Russian troll networks that spread media manipulations in Africa

Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cyber-security Policy of Facebook announced that on October 30 this social media company has removed three networks composed of accounts, Pages and Groups for engaging in foreign interference — which is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign actor — on Facebook and Instagram. They originated in Russia and targeted Madagascar, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Sudan and Libya. 

Facebook’s investigations determined that although the people behind these networks attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation connected these campaigns to entities associated with Russian financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who was previously indicted by the US Justice Department in the lawsuit connected to the activities of the Russian company Internet Research Agency, called “troll factory” by international media. 

Gleicher stated that Facebook is “constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don’t want our services to be used to manipulate people. We’re taking down these Pages, Groups and accounts based on their behavior, not the content they posted. In each of these cases, the people behind this activity coordinated with one another and used fake accounts to misrepresent themselves, and that was the basis for our action. 

Facebook has removed 35 Facebook accounts, 53 Pages, seven Groups and five Instagram accounts that originated in Russia and focused on Madagascar, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and CameroonThe individuals behind this activity used a combination of fake accounts and authentic accounts of local nationals to spread manipulations about global and local political news from elections to international politics.  

This first removed network of Russian trolls had about 475,000 follower accounts and had spent around $77,000 for ads on Facebook paid for in US dollars. The first ad ran in April 2018 and the most recent ad ran in October 2019. 

The second network focused on Sudan with 17 Facebook accounts, 18 Pages, 3 Groups and six Instagram accounts that originated in Russiaaffecting 457,000 followers, spending around 160 dollars paid in Russian rubles.  

Libya was the target of the third troll network run through 14 Facebook accounts, 12 Pages, one Group and one Instagram account that originated in Russia, affecting 212,000 Facebook followers and 29,300 people on Instagram.  

Over a year ago, Meta.mk reported about an journalist investigation which determined that an Internet Research Agency operative specialised in established “bot armies” had a working visit to North Macedonia in June 2015. Anna Bogacheva who is also charged by US special counsel Robert Mueller for allegedly interfering in the US elections, refused to explain with whom she had been working in the country in the months after then-President Gorgje Ivanov showed support for Putin by attending the Victory Day parade in Moscow, which was boycotted by NATO and allied countries in protest of aggression against Ukraine.  

Recent testimonies of VMRO-DPMNE officials (former minister and MPs) indicate that the party that ruled North Macedonia from 2006 to 2017 has established a troll army based on the Russian model.

VMRO-DPMNE officials confirm existence of political party’s troll army ‘paid for lynching over social networks’

Daniela Rangelova, member of Parliament of Republic of North Macedonia from the right-wing populist party VMRO-DPMNE, confirmed the existence of the party’s troll army during a TV debate conducted by the “360 degrees” show on 8 November 2019 in Skopje.

When asked about her communication with the current party leadership and their disagreement with some of her positions and public appearances, she said that they have no courage to say what they feel in her face, but rather use their “bots” as conduit.

“They act very nice when we meet, but after each my public appearance I suffer lynching on the social networks by party’s bots, which are familiar to me, who were functioning in the same manner at the time when I was a member of the party management, and by people who are paid by the party to lynch people that express disagreement,” Rangelova said.

This is not the first time for high party officials to reveal details about the existence of the “troll army” or “bots” – a branch of the party propaganda machinery intended for coordinated and orchestrated influence over the public opinions over the social networks.

The term “bots” (short for robots) is used across the Balkans for the practices which are internationally known as “armies” or “factories” of trolls – malicious social network users who act in coordinated manner. The most famous example of entity running a troll army is the company Internet Research Agency from St. Petersburg, accused for attempts malicious influence across the world in line with Kremlin’s goals. The word “bots” has become common in the Balkans region as a nickname for the “internet team” of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), who are called “SNS bots” by its opponents.


A year ago, in an interview for Kanal 5 TV on 28 November 2018, Nikola Todorov, former government minister in several administrations run by Nikola Gruevski, pointed out that the party has created an army of “party political bots” which manufacture an illusion of support by the people or the public, but also serve as intimidation mechanism using serious threats to hinder the work of individuals who are blacklisted by the party.

It’s those bots. Political party bots, whose job is to promote all those negative and destructive ideas of VMRO-DPMNE management, and to spread hate speech and falsehoods….This whole system for lynching via social networks that was built by VMRO-DPMNE is very dangerous at this moment. I would say… I’m afraid the people who work for that system would end up in jail for obeying the orders of VMRO-DPMNE management. And these are young people, in their twenties, who sit behind computers…Todorov said.

Todorov was let off from the political party structures because he didn’t support the campaign for boycott of the 2018 referendum, contrary to the statements by party president Mickoski that anyone can vote according to their conscience. VMRO-DPMNE has not admitted that the party run the “I Boycott” campaign, run online through the members of the troll army, the same people who before and after advocate the party positions or are cyberbullying people it has blacklisted.

Nikola Todorov, who has started working as a lawyer, said that the existence of the party’s troll army is nothing new, and that it’s a system using threats, defamation and hate speech, which is forbidden with the Criminal Code and “very dangerous.”

This functions within VMRO-DPMNE and that has been the the way VMRO-DPMNE works. They give an order “tear to pieces Nikola Todorov on social networks.” And you know how that functions afterwards? There are about 20 people sitting behind computers, each with 10-15 fake profiles. And then they start with threats, insults, fabrications et cetera from those fake profiles. If there are about 20 with around 15 profiles each, they create the perception that an enormous number of people, say 200-300-400, think in that way. Which is not so,” Todorov explained.

The above statements and other information leaked to the public indicate that the troll army has several branches, connected to the Center for Communication of VMRO-DPMNE, which have been financed through state resources over the years of their rule. One branch of the army runs a network of individual (non-anonymous) and fake (anonymous) social media presences, the second branch consists of persons from the media outlets close to the party which serve both as source (incl. anonymous authors) and amplifiers of the social media manipulations. The third branch is a kind of infantry, party loyalists who think they owe their employment in the public administration with a duty to like or share content produced by the first two branches, so they would be visible to their wider circles of friends.

Leaked wiretaps published in early 2015 indicated that beseides ‘broadcasting’ party propaganda, the troll army operatives are also engaged in surveilance, or monitoring of activities of designated persons of interest over social networks. For instance, the “Bomb number 7” showed that then-government minister Mile Janakieski gave orders to officials to threaten civil servants with resignation or demotion for “liking” an undesired Facebook page (owned by then-opposition candidate) during an election campaign.

Later during that year European Union facilitator Peter Vanhoutte revealed that the total amount paid in personal income taxes by the party in 2014 was about 3,200 euros — the equivalent to employment of one person. At the same time much larger number of people were engaged on party business within its 8-story headquarters in Skopje, and much more in party branches across the country. During the subsequent period there were more indications that such people are possibly paid through fictitious contracts for services paid through different state institutions.

Some publicly known cases indicate entanglement between of the functions of the three branches of the troll army in order to promote certain personages as opinion makers. For instance, some Twitter users who achieved certain level of popularity were recruited to join the structure, incentivized through paid jobs such as columnists in media outlets close to the party, or by providing access to public procurement for companies owned by their family members. On the other hand, some existing columnists were promoted to social media influencers on Twitter.

In a well-known case American lobbyist Jason Miko, who was paid off though contracts with the Ministry of Defense in 2015 and 2016, was presented as independent analyst in the daily “Dnevnik,” and then was also turned into active Twitter user who constantly tweets on the #Macedonia hashtag and supported with retweets and likes by many known and anonymous profiles. Another case included Bogdan Ilievski who first gathered significant amount of followers through his profile “Batman says this” expounding anti-establishment positions. His career progressed from position of columnist in Off.net.mk and some media outlets owned by the now bankrupt MPM, through participant in the events leading to and the raid on the Parliament in April of 2017, and was later appointed as member of the Executive Committee of VMRO-DPMNE the following July.

Over a year ago, Meta.mk reported about an journalist investigation which determined that an Internet Research Agency operative specialised in established “bot armies” had a working visit to North Macedonia in June 2015. Anna Bogachevawho is also charged by US special counsel Robert Mueller for allegedly interfering in the US elections, refused to explain with whom she had been working in the country in the months after then-President Gorgje Ivanov showed support for Putin by attending the Victory Day parade in Moscow, which was boycotted by NATO and allied countries in protest of aggression against Ukraine.  

“Meta”, “Portalb” and “Truthmeter” winners of the 2019 Roberto Beličanec Award

Meta News Agency, the Albanian-language portal – Portalb and the tool for enhancing accountability “Truthmeter”, as media outlets of the Foundation Metamorphosis, won the Аward for Media Promoter of Journalism as Public Good – “Roberto Beličanec” for 2019.
The award is given by the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers, in partnership with the Macedonian Institute for Media, the Institute of Communication Studies and the Media Diversity Institute from London as part of the “News and Digital Literacy – Dealing with Fake News” project supported by the European Union.

Metamorphosis’ three media projects work on the domestic digital media scene with professionally created, original and verifiable information, while publishing news in multiple languages, including Macedonian, Albanian and English, attempting to bring closer the fragmented media scene.

The three media outlets have jointly committed to debunking misinformation not only from the country, but also from the Western Balkans region. Thus, “Portalb”, “Meta” and “Truthmeter” regularly publish content that exposes manipulations and misinformation regarding Macedonia published in the media in Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece and Kosovo.

In addition, in “Meta”, “Portalb” and “Truthmeter”, the use of data-based journalism, data visualization, and production of short videos on specific topics is of particular importance. The topics that are thoroughly covered are carefully selected and most often address issues that are extremely important to society and citizens.

The Roberto Beličanec Award is given for a continued sense of social responsibility, treating journalism as a public good by advocating for freedom of expression, adherence to the Code of Ethics of Journalists, addressing issues of public interest, as well as for dealing with employees fairly – respecting their labor and professional rights.

The award was established last year, starting from the premise that the democratic society towards which Macedonia strives is only possible if journalism is treated as a public good, as an instrument through which the government is constantly held accountable and an instrument that protects the public interest.