Author: Dr. Arben Fetoshi – Director at Institute for Hybrid Warfare “OCTOPUS”
In the digital arena of information warfare, propaganda relies on increasingly sophisticated methods and stronger emotional appeals. Serbia’s strategy of “victimhood” uses false attribution, “mirror accusations,” and fabricated threats to distort the truth. Through projection and media amplification, its strategic communication seeks to mobilize domestic audiences, sow confusion abroad, and promote the idea that NATO made a “mistake.” Its aim is to legitimize Serbia’s militarization and undermine the Republic of Kosovo.
False Attribution for Greater Effect
At a time when the United States is clarifying the path to peace in the Balkans through Kosovo’s integration into NATO, Serbia misrepresents the remarks of an American diplomat to reinforce its anti-NATO narrative. Reporting on the latest episode of Čedomir Antić’s Perspectives podcast on K1, which featured former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery and his wife, Lynn, Blic.rs falsely attributed a position to Montgomery in its headline, “We All Made Mistakes: William Montgomery on the NATO Bombing and Kosovo.” The article, later picked up by other Serbian media outlets, contains no such statement from the former ambassador, who clearly identifies Milošević as responsible. Blic.rs
“His nationalist rhetoric, including the famous statement ‘No one dares touch you,’ the revocation of autonomy, the closure of schools, and the repression of Albanians were what later led to guerrilla warfare,” Montgomery said. He also described as “madness” the statement by U.S. envoy Robert Gelbard, who had called the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) a “terrorist organization.” U.S. Department of State, February 23, 1998
Montgomery also recalled his unsuccessful efforts at the time and the Račak massacre. News of the massacre quickly spread around the world and ultimately led to the start of NATO’s bombing campaign. He called this a “bad outcome” in the context of the international community’s failed efforts to stop Milošević. His account presents the bombing as a last resort after those efforts failed. The headline, by contrast, casts it as an injustice and suggests an admission of wrongdoing.
The headline “We All Made Mistakes” thus strategically reframes the conversation with the American diplomat. Through false attribution, it sows confusion and shapes public perceptions by suggesting that Americans themselves now acknowledge that Serbia was in the right.
This is a by-product of Serbia’s strategic communication within the framework of “victimhood,” which invokes “Western injustice” to evade responsibility for crimes and genocide in Kosovo.
Fabricating the “Threat” in Pristina
The narrative of NATO’s past “aggression” and the current “threat” posed by the Kosovo–Albania–Croatia alliance is further refined by downplaying the fact that two of those countries are NATO members and sounding the alarm that “Pristina is waiting for the signal to launch aggression” against Serbia. By portraying the strengthening of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) as “militarization carried out over the years by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” Politika journalist Dejan Spalović concludes that offensive operations are being prepared and will begin as soon as they receive the “green light” and international circumstances allow. Politika
He “bases” this claim on a military financial cooperation agreement that builds on a framework agreement enabling strategic investment. He also points to other, unspecified bilateral agreements, the KSF’s participation in international missions, and increased military spending, portraying all of them as a “growing threat to peace.” He knows his analysis is groundless, but the political objectives call for this interpretation. Telegrafi, May 5, 2026 · Anadolu Agency, April 2, 2024
As the latest product of the “victimhood” strategy, Spalović’s alarmism seeks to distort the facts about independent Kosovo, obscure Serbia’s own militarization, supported primarily by Russia and China, and rally the public around nationalist sentiment. Outside the longstanding anti-NATO narrative, now reinforced by the alleged threat of Serbia’s “encirclement,” his approach would simply reflect desperation. Yet under the logic of “mirror accusations,” which helps explain Serbia’s hidden aims, such messages suggest that the danger is alarmingly close. SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
A journalist can sound more “neutral” in such cases while deliberately “forgetting” that Kosovo is a sovereign state, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice, that Resolution 1244 remains hostage to geopolitical rivalries in the Security Council and is used by Serbia to keep the issue “open” at the UN, and that the KSF operates according to NATO standards. The KSF is also regarded as a contributor to peace alongside its allies in international missions and receives military equipment from the United States. Yet the U.S. role in this supposed “militarization” goes unmentioned in the “analysis.” ICJ Advisory Opinion, July 22, 2010 · Asllani, 2025 · Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 14, 2026
By focusing on Türkiye and President Erdoğan, Serbia’s strategic communication introduces another dimension: the suggestion of an “Islamic threat” designed to stir emotional and religious sentiment. Spalović’s conclusion that “Kosovo is waiting for the signal” sharpens a claim Vučić has repeatedly made, that “they are waiting for the right moment.” Here, a “journalist” targets another flank of NATO, following earlier attacks on its core through fabricated claims attributed to former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery. B92, March 12, 2026
