Throughout the month of May, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month we are highlighting religious hate speech, ethnic discrimination, homophobia and sexism in the Western Balkan region.

Islamophobia in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former member of the presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stjepan Kljuić, shocked the public after a series of insults and Islamophobic comments against the Minister of Education of the Sarajevo Canton, Naida Hota-Muminović, who wears a hijab.

During the show, Kljuić openly spread hateful and anti-religious narratives aimed at the faith of the Minister of Education of the Sarajevo Canton. Kljuić commented “when I see the Minister of Education of the Sarajevo Canton with a hijab…what is she thinking, what are the little children of non-believers thinking”.

Not only is this incident highly problematic for the spread of Islamophobic sentiment, but furthermore, broadcasting such comments on a TV Channel with a wide reach and audience leads to spreading Islamophobic tropes and discriminatory narratives within society. The media’s role and duty is to hold responsibility for what is broadcasted and shared on their platforms, thus they hold accountability for the spread of such narratives. In this instance, by allowing Kljuić to make these personal, insulting comments in relation to the religion and appearance of the Minister of Education in Sarajevo Canton, the media helped to diffuse these discriminatory narratives and Islamophobic rhetoric amongst the wider public.

In Albania, during the show ‘Arnautistan’ for MCN TV, Analyst Mustafa Nano called for the ban of prayer within public spaces in Albania. This was accompanied by an image of a mass prayer in Elbasan on Eid-al-Fitr where he stated that “this is not my Albania; my Albania has been stolen”. Nano argued that prayer should be restricted to religious sites as such displays “may affect the non-religious part of the country”. “At this rate, Albania will turn into an El Dorado for religious fanatics all over the world”, the analyst added. In reference to the photograph itself, he added that “these women in the photo are humiliated…these women dress like this because their husbands want them to.”

This incident has resulted in a response by the head of the Inter-Religious Institute for Albania, Dr. Arben Ramkaj, who called out Nano for his Islamophobic comments and made a statement for the Audio-visual Media Authority as well as the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination to react to such statements and incidents.

TV channels such as MCN TV hold a moral and legal responsibility to prevent the spread of discriminatory and hateful narratives. Providing a platform for the dissemination of Islamophobic narratives only upholds and justify religious hate speech in society.

Ethnic discrimination in Kosovo and Montenegro

In Kosovo, marking the occasion of the Abetare Day, an event was held at Xhemajl Kada school in Peje, to mark the usage of the children’s Albanian language textbook (Abetare) which will be used both in Kosovo and Albania.

At the event, students from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities watched the programme separately from other children. Journalists who covered the event and questioned this practice received an answer from the teacher of this school claiming that the students themselves asked to sit separately. This, however, did not match up to the version of events told by the students. The students from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities said that the teacher told them that if they wanted to follow this program, they had to sit separately from the other children. Later on, there was a statement saying that children from Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities do not regularly attend school and that they study in a separate, special class. Furthermore, although it was not planned, at the students’ request, they were allowed to follow the programme.

There are only a number of schools within Kosovo where students from various communities attend, and although this has received criticism from civil society as unacceptable behaviour, school principals continue to justify and explain that this was a reflection of the demand of parents of students who do not want their children attending classes with Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian students.

Following this incident, the Minister of Education reacted to this discriminatory attitude and in addition to a number of civil society organisations, the Ombudsperson also stated that this was an unacceptable attitude towards students of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Despite the media in Kosovo reacting and responding well to this type of discrimination and racism, including a number of social media commentators, this incident highlights the level of discrimination within public institutions – in this case schools. This incident is highly sensitive one. By creating a division and excluding children and pupils from various ethnic communities, this only further upholds and perpetuates the social exclusion and marginalisation of ethnic communities in Kosovo.

In Montenegro, under the slogan for the celebration of the Day of Victory over Fascism in Danilovgrad, a protest was organised calling for Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Victory Day over Fascism is a day which commemorates and highlights the fight against fascism – the fight for individual rights, defence of democratic values and individual freedom. Calling for active aggression by Russia against Ukraine, only leads to further division within society and undermines the significance of the celebration and organised event taking place. Montenegro is a country with a highly polarised population, divided on many issues including that of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. This type of public support is extremely dangerous and runs the risk of promoting further tension, fragmentation and hostility within society.

Sexism in North Macedonia

This month, the Macedonian representative at Eurovision, Andrea Koevska, was being photographed holding the Macedonian flag. During the photo shoot, she was asked to be photographed without the flag which led her to leave the flag on the floor at that moment. Following this, parts of the public in Macedonia condemned the singer for her action and insulted her using various offensive names as a reaction to her actions. The prosecution even opened a case to see if she violated the relevant legislation.

This led to a number of hate speech comments on various social media, where individual users insulted Andrea in a highly derogatory and personal manner. One comment read: “Stupid, freak, and I don’t know what else”.

Controversies involving Macedonian singers and the Macedonian flag is not a new phenomenon. There has been a similar case involving Macedonian singer Tamara Todevska who once sang the Macedonian national anthem and curiously omitted some of the text within the anthem resulting in her being blamed for acting out of political motives. In this case, citizens were quick and prompt to react following the publication of the video depicting Andrea throwing the flag.

This incident highlights the importance of monitoring social media including the need and significance of various mechanisms put in place to prevent the spread of hate speech and insults aimed at individuals and groups.

Homophobia in Serbia

There has been a number of reported cases of the monkeypox infection in Europe, the United States, Australia and Canada. After the cases of infection were discovered amongst gay and bisexual men, the media began to spread homophobic narratives surrounding the spread of monkeypox.

Various media in Serbia began to report on the infection, claiming it to be a disease that is “transmitted by gay sex”.  In its original title published by newspaper Kurir, their headline read “Monkeypox transmitted by gay sex! Still no cases in Serbia but if the husband has them the marriage can fall apart”. Kurir, alongside the evident homophobic headline, presented a number of misinformation surrounding the spread of the disease. In addition, they intentionally left out the information that the advisor for HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Andy Seale emphasized that although “we can see some cases amongst men who have sex with men this is not a gay disease”.

Some media also had headlines and narratives similar to that of Kurir, including Radio Television Vojvodina who shared an article titled “no need for panic: mostly homosexuals get infected with monkeypox”. These narratives and headlines only spread fear and mistrust within society, especially towards gay and bisexual men. These headlines and articles which spread information holding little to no truth can result in dangerous homophobic rhetoric and divide amongst the public resulting in the stigmatisation and targeting of certain groups in society. The media should approach topics of importance as public health issues, by providing factual, objective and relevant information for public interest and knowledge without spreading homophobic and harmful disinformation.

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate on the internet based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region.

May Troll is the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije Mićović, who spoke out in support of the recent initiative by the American Supreme Court, wishing to overturn abortion rights within the United States. The topic of abortion rights is one of much contestation within modern society whereby such narratives create further tension amongst the public.

Earlier this month, the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije Mićović, came out and voiced his stance on the recent initiative of the American Supreme Court who is looking to overturn abortion rights within the United States. The recent debate surrounding abortion rights within the United States begun with a leaked document published by the media company, Politico, which revealed that the Supreme Court was looking to overturn abortion rights established in the 1973 federal constitutional protection. The immediate ruling would result in putting an end to the “half-century guarantee of federal constitutional protection of abortion rights” alongside the right for each state to decide for themselves where they stand on abortion rights.

As a reaction to this political debate, this incident has received worldwide attention and global spotlight including a variety of reactions and debates. Amongst these was the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije Mićović, who also spoke out. He argued that such a ruling would indeed be one of reason and conscience. The Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije Mićović, stated:

“Deliberately terminating a pregnancy at any stage of it is a terrible sin and is directly directed against God’s original biblical command to give birth. Man alienated from God want to legitimize what is against God’s law, it is, on the one hand, an expression of pernicious selfishness, and, on the other hand, an escape from life, a renunciation of love and God’s blessing. This sin leaves severe, long-lasting and traumatic consequences on the soul of the parents, and is only cured by sincere and long-lasting repentance. Because of what has been said, we accept every initiative for the protection of unborn children, especially this one of the Supreme Court of America, as humane, saving, and pleasing to God”.

Abortion rights is a topic and issue of much contestation within today’s society and globally; there are extremely polarised and fragmented opinions surrounding the topic of abortion. However, the fact remains that women and individuals in society have both the autonomy and right over their own bodies. Furthermore, an individual’s autonomy and personal rights should not be debated, discussed or decided by others. Within a secular state, the church is a separate institution and sphere of influence from the government which has no place in the debate and decision-making regarding women’s autonomy and abortion rights.

By spreading such narratives regarding abortion rights, especially by individuals such as the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, who has a high authority and influence over the public’s opinion, such narratives can only result in further division within society. Montenegro is a country with a large Orthodox religious population, therefore, by having such a predominant religious figure spread such narratives and statements, this only further influences and affects the population’s opinion surrounding abortion rights. When discussing abortion and forming opinions surrounding the topic, this should be treated as a health care matter which is both private and separate from the sphere of religion.

This statement was picked up by various media portals and social media, further spreading it amongst the public in Montenegro. The media, instead of using their educational role and influence to open up the space for medical professionals, researchers and individuals with personal stories regarding abortion, only transmitted the statement of the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, thus providing the church with the legitimacy to speak and comment on the legality of abortion rights.

Media should open up a debate over such important social issues, however this includes having opinion from various sides. Only transmitting the opinion of a (male) church representative, without hearing from those who are affected the most – a that is women- does not contribute to the democratic public debate.

Sexism, misogyny and hate speech towards women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as hate speech based on ethnicity, are most prevalent in Western Balkan media and something that is common to the whole region, according to the results of media monitoring in the Western Balkans which followed problematic trends in reporting on social diversity.

These results were presented at the regional conference ‘Where have diverse voices gone’ in Belgrade. Monitoring of hate speech and representation of diversity is conducted within the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0.

The findings were presented by media experts from the region: Kristina Lani (Albanian Media Institute), Leila Bičakčić (Center for Investigative Journalism), Violeta Oroshi Berishaj (Kosovo 2.0), Željana Kandić (Center for Investigative Journalism Montenegro), Bojan Georgievski (Institute for Communication Studies Skopje) and Ivana Jovanović (Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans).

Sexism, misogyny and hate speech towards women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as hate speech based on ethnicity, is the most prevalent discourse  in Western Balkan media according to the results of the media monitoring in the region which assesses  problematic trends in reporting on social diversity.

These results were presented at the regional conference ‘Where have diverse voices gone’ in Belgrade, May 5, 2022.  The monitoring of hate speech and representation of diversity is conducted within the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0.

The conference was opened by Milica Pešić, Executive Director of Media Diversity Institute, Tatjana Prijić, deputy Commissioner for the Protection of Equality in Serbia, and Victor Dragutan, Programme Manager at the European Commission’s Media and Civil Society unit,   who all highlighted the importance of fair and balanced representation of social diversity in the media. While addressing the participants, Prijić highlighted the efforts that the office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality does in order to react to hate speech and ensure the equal treatment of all social groups in Serbian society.

“European Union takes increasingly bold steps to support democracy and freedom of expression, that depends of course on media freedom, pluralism, independence and viability, as well as on the ability of journalists to do their job without fear. Diversity and making all voices heard, which is the topic of the conference today, is of utmost importance too”, said Dragutan after commenting on increased polarisation in media globally, the spread of the “Fox News model” of opinion media, disinformation circuits amplified by social media.

The RDN2.0 media monitoring findings were presented at the conference by media experts from the region: Kristina Lani (Albanian Media Institute), Leila Bičakčić (Center for Investigative Journalism), Violeta Oroshi Berishaj (Kosovo 2.0), Željana Kandić (Center for Investigative Journalism Montenegro), Bojan Georgievski (Institute for Communication Studies Skopje) and Ivana Jovanović (Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans).

“Hate speech along gender lines mainly presents itself in the form of victim blaming, perpetuation of the tradition that women should possess virtue, as well as objectification of women for entertainment” said Kristina Lani from the Albanian Media Institute.

Željana Kandić from the Center for Investigative Journalism Montenegro pointed out that in Montenegro, the most frequent targets of hate speech are women who are engaged in public affairs.

“Most often, women who are engaged in public affairs are targeted, i.e., politicians, journalists, representatives of the NGO sector. In the last few years various examples of misogyny have been noticed – from insulting comments, through to caricatures in which women are shown naked and in an inferior position, all the way to death threats” said Kandić.

Ivana Jovanović from Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans said that the situation is not any better in Serbia, and that the results show that women are the most exposed to hate speech and gave the example of the media with a national frequency that in 2021 participated in the secondary victimisation of women who reported rape allegations and sexual harassment allegations.

“Certain tabloids, as well as televisions with national frequencies, spread narratives that shift the blame to the victim who reported (sexual) violence, as well as conspiracy theories that rape and sexual harassment allegations ‘represent an attack on Serbia’ and thus they participate in the secondary victimisation of victims” said Jovanović.

The panellists said that the targets are those who challenge traditional values, such as women who are fighting for their emancipation or members of the LGBTQ+ community who do not fit the traditional norms.

Bojan Georgievski from the Institute for Communication Studies Skopje also pointed out the role of social networks when he spoke about the ‘Public Room’ case – the Facebook group within which men shared private pictures of women without their consent. Georgievski also noted that this case is in a way an example of good practice, because the administrators of the group were punished with imprisonment, but he also pointed out how this case pointed out the weaknesses of the system, as it took a year to process the case.

Ethnicity is also a sensitive category of social diversity and the results in all six countries can confirm this. The reporting on neighbouring countries is problematic, and there exists particularly sensitive topics such as the Serbia-Kosovo relations or the wars of the 1990s.

“When journalist Pero Jovović went to Pristina for the festival ‘Mirëdita, dobar dan!’ and posted it on his private Facebook profile, pro-government tabloids used it as to target him and his media outlet, which led to Jovović receiving death threats on social networks. A similar thing happened to activists as well as journalists who reported on the mural of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. From these examples we can see that the media are very often generators of hate speech” said Jovanović.

Violeta Oroshi Berishaj, who followed the media coverage in Kosovo, also pointed out the relations between Pristina and Belgrade as the initiators of negative trends in the media, which then spill over into social networks. She also spoke about how the media often do not use open hate speech, but the way they report influence public opinion, which is then manifested in an avalanche of hate speech on social networks.

Leila Bičakčić from the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN) of Bosnia and Herzegovina pointed out that the media in the region are polarised and follow in the footsteps of politicians. The findings from the research confirm that politicians in the Western Balkans are often the initiators of rhetoric that encourages social divisions and hate speech.

What is also common to all Western Balkan societies is the absence of Roma from the media. Interestingly, the monitoring findings do not show many examples of hate speech against Roma. However, this is an indicator of an equally negative trend – Roma are reported only on the occasion to mark World Roma Day or in reports on crime and similar negative contexts. Conference participant, Kristina Lani, called this “hate silence”.

At the conference ‘Where have diverse voices gone’ media representation of diversity was further explored through several panels that dealt with the importance of creating counter-narratives, the thin line between freedom of speech and hate speech, the role of social networks in spreading hate speech, but also in fighting against it. Also, a panel with representatives of regulatory and self-regulatory bodies from the Western Balkans aimed to raise discussion about existing practices to combat hate speech and harmful practices in media representation of social diversity, as well as the cooperation of civil society with institutions.

Throughout the month of April, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month there has been a rise in ethnic discrimination, sexism, and homophobia in the Western Balkan region.

Ethnic discrimination in North Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The now-former Secretary-general of the Government of North Macedonia, Muhamed Zeqiri, was arrested on  suspicion of abuse of his official position of authority. Muhamed Zeqiri has been accused, alongside two Croatian citizens, for concluding a contract for public procurement of consulting services with a legal entity without conducting a public call for the procurement, thereby damaging the state budged by a total of 795,000 euros. He has now been imprisoned and is currently serving a 30-day detention.

Following his sentence, a Twitter user posted a picture of Zeqiri during his imprisonment, while taking a walk outside, with the caption “is there something more beautiful than an Albanian in prison?”

The public in North Macedonia is inclined towards believing that Albanian politicians are often spared from arrest and imprisonment despite law breaking, due to the political allegiances between the political figures and Albanian political parties.  Thus, hateful and discriminatory narratives are often presented along ethnic lines as seen in this Twitter post. This comment on Twitter was motivated and rooted by a similar belief, further fuelling tension between the two ethnic communities.

In Serbia, the Instagram page Bunt Kosovo and Metohija is one which shares numerous pro-Russian posts including denying the crimes and acts of violence in Ukraine, labelling it as ‘Western propaganda’. Furthermore, they publicly deny the Srebrenica genocide, equating these – what they call – ‘fake crimes’ in Ukraine to the ‘made up genocide in Srebrenica’.

The post itself read “The Ministry of Defence in Ukraine published a disturbing video in which it informs that during the previous few weeks, civilians in Bucha were randomly killed, some with their hands tied behind their backs, and bodies were scattered on the city streets. They called Bucha ‘the new Srebrenica”. At the bottom of the post was written “Russia must win this war. Work, brothers, everything is fine at home!”.

This post is harmful and problematic for a number of reasons. The war in Ukraine is an extremely sensitive issue with many people falling victim to the conflict. Apart from spreading unverified claims, harm is done by labelling Srebrenica as a ‘fake crime’, undermining the Srebrenica victims and casualties in the 1990s. Posts such as these promote ethnic discrimination and divisions amongst the public, further opening the wounds of the conflict in the 90’s, which remains highly sensitive and polarising topic in the Balkan region.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Twitter page ‘Samopoštovanje’ (samo_postovanje) tweeted a post which read “by forcing lies and half-truths, we will not reach reconciliation, but we will only sink deeper into mistrust, disbelief and even hatred”. The group Samopoštavanje is a group which comes from Prijedor, who present themselves as a group which wants to restore national and cultural self-esteem.

Despite the fact that the Hague Tribunal’s ruling has confirmed that the Prijedor Crisis Staff in 1992 had ordered both Bosniaks and Croats from the area to wear white stripes on their upper arms as a sign of their ethnicity, the Samopoštovanje group denies this. Attached to the twitter post is a YouTube video titled ‘A lie called a white stripe’.

By denying the events which took place during the war in the Balkans in the 90s, including the experiences of the victims of Prijedor war crimes, these statements actively spread misinformation and disinformation regarding historical events. These events have both been confirmed and ruled by the Hague Tribunal. By further denying and labelling these events as ‘half-truths and lies’, it is both insensitive to those who fell victims and those who lost loved ones in Prijedor, but also harmful for the reconciliation process and building peace in the region.

Homophobia in Kosovo

Following the election assembly, the Union of Kosovo Tarikats issued a joint statement in which amongst other things, it expressed a wish to cooperate with institutions; “the Union of Tarikats especially wants to work together with institutions in Kosovo in building a society without prejudice, which we know as racism, ethnic hatred, misogyny and Islamophobia, Sufi-phobia, and other exclusive forms that undermine trust and understanding in society”. As a result of this statement, several influential online media such as “Gazeta Express” and “Insajderi” claimed in their headlines regarding this news, that this religious community advocates same-sex marriage. The headline reads: “The first religious community to support same-sex marriage”. This inaccurate headline, also published on their Facebook page, provoked mostly negative comments in which various individuals used hate speech aimed at the Union of Kosovo Tarikats and the LGBTQ+ community. The Secretary of the Union, Sheh Lulzim Shehu told several media outlets that same-sex marriages are decided by the state, and that this issue should be resolved by law, but that they are against homophobia.

The Union of Kosovo Tarikats has around 250,000 believers, and the general public considers the dervishes members of the Islamic religion. However, the Union has refused to be part of the Islamic community of Kosovo. Unlike the three largest religious communities in Kosovo (Islamic, Catholic and Orthodox) which openly oppose same-sex marriage and the LGBTQ+ community in general, believing them to be dangerous to the future of mankind, the Union of Kosovo Tarikats have very different, more liberal ideas and attitudes on these topics.

This case is an example of the news fully taken out of its original context, resultingd in hate speech and narratives targeting various communities and individuals. The media has a duty to report factually and accurately, especially when the news has an effect on marginalised groups in society.

Sexism in Albania and Montenegro

In the feature by Top Channel on the rising number of divorces in Albania, divorce lawyer Vjollca Pustina argued that women are becoming initiators of divorces in most cases as “they can no longer stand being violated by their spouses”. The economic independence of women was also listed as another factor and contributor to the rising divorce rates. The headline read “Why is the number of divorces increasing? The lawyer: women can no longer stand violence”.

The framing of the statement, as well as the headline provided by Top Channel, are prime examples of victim blaming. Divorce is seen as a social problem, and in Albania is often still seen by many as ‘scandalous’. However, the real social problem lies in the gendered abuse and violence, which should be considered as a much more serious issue than simply a factor in divorce rates. Such headlines and statements divert attention from the true, root cause of the issue. Many women are victims of domestic violence and abuse, and so offering a platform to narratives suggesting it is simply a factor in divorce rates rather than an issue of concern in itself is a problematic approach to the topic.

In Montenegro, the MP of the opposition Democratic Party of Socialists, Dragica Sekulić, was a victim of brutal insults as a result of a Twitter post where she criticised the measures of the Minister of Economic Development Jakov Milatović, who suggested that every new-born in a municipality with negative natural growth should receive one thousand euros and with positive natural growth, 500 euros. At that time, Milatović held a meeting with the Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije.

Sekulić stated on Twitter that “if you choose to give birth in a certain municipality, you will receive 500 or 1,000 euros, with the blessing of the priest. Is it worth it?” in reference to that meeting. Following her post, Sekulić was attacked with vulgar insults on the basis of her gender on the Facebook page of the portal I Love Podgorica, which published her tweet. Nearly 400 comments, dominated by hate speech, are still on the site.

The attacks on Sekulić were condemned by almost all of the opposition parties, as well as non-governmental organisations and members of the Montenegrin parliament, with appeals to the authorities to react urgently.

This case has an interesting follow up, as MP Sekulić has announced lawsuits against authors of 381 online comments as well as the portal I Love Podgorica because they did not remove the comments fast enoughThis could set a precedentin the sense of extending the editorial responsibility on social media.

This case sparked debates about free speech, which is a continuous struggle for the legal system as well as other institutions charged withits supervision. In addition, there is discussion about the privileged position of public figures compared to private individuals, who would rarely be able to initiate such legal response.

The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate on the internet based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region.

April Troll is Duda Balje, the President of the Social Democratic Union and Member of the Assembly of Kosovo, who spread hate speech directed at an individual contributing to a surge of hateful attacks and violent threats against the individual and her family.

Recently, the director of the Nexhmedin Nixha Technical High School in Gjakova/Đakovica, Florentina Gjergjaj, was forced to resign from her position due to a wave of hateful and personal attacks towards herself and her family.

It all started following the revelation of a set of school rules which included a headscarf ban on wearing a headscarf alongside other bans including carrying weapons, wearing make-up, and more. The headscarf ban led to an outcry and backlash towards Gjergjai as this ban is thought to be her decision. As a result, Florentina Gjergjaj was asked to step down from her role as director of the technical school at the insistence of Gjakova/Đakovica County Educational Director Eranda Kumnova.

Following the revelation of the situation and of the ban itself which spread amongst the public, Gjergjaj received an overwhelming number of personal attacks on various social media. The comments and attacks were directed personally at her and her family and included, among other things, threats of burning down her house.  As a result of these attacks, she and her family were forced to move away, and they are even considering leaving Kosovo.

Florentina Gjergjaj reported the hateful comments and threats she was receiving to the police which, in her opinion, stem from the reaction of MP Duda Balje, who publicly addressed and called out Gjergjaj to answer regarding the school’s ban.

Balje, among other things, wrote on her Facebook profile “Director of the Secondary Technical School ‘Nexhmedin Nixha’, in Gjakova/Đakovica, Mrs. Florentina Gjergjaj, on the basis of which Constitution or law did you set the symbols of prohibition?! I agree with some of them, but the symbol of the girl with the headscarf and comparing symbols in this way is scandalous and an insult to every citizen and our Republic, not excluding religious beliefs”.

This was seen as an instigation to the stream of hate speech and threats that Gjergjaj and her family received.

Most threats and comments that Florentina Gjergjaj received were based on religious grounds. In the context and period of Ramadan or Eid, the media and headlines focused on a variety of topics including that of the permission of individuals to wear headscarves in primary and secondary schools. The President of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, Mufti Naim Ternava stated that he believed the case at the Technical High School to be an omission as in no case can a headscarf be equated with a weapon or alcohol and other negative things.

That headscarf ban was probably imposed at an earlier stage, but was rather used at this timing to initiate a public conversation on the topic itself.

There is an Instruction by the Ministry of Education which does not allow underage girls to wear headscarves in schools. Indeed, following this case, the ‘Kosovo’s Islamic Community Council has requested from ‘the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, to remove the ban of wearing religious symbols in high schools’.

In addition, it is believed that the fact that Gjergjaj is a Christian Catholic adds another layer to this story as her religion have been misused in some comments directed at her.

Almost every media in Kosovo covered this case and incident at the Technical High School in Gjakova/Đakovica, reporting primarily in a professional and correct manner. However, there were also a number of comments on social media networks which insulted and demanded punishment for Florentina Gjergjaj whilst others defended her, reminding the public that Kosovo is a secular state.

This incident is one surrounding the important topic of religious freedom and individual rights in Kosovo. As a result of the direct targeting by MP Duda Balje and other social media users, both Florentina Gjergjaj and her family were forced to move away from their home and are even considering moving out of the country altogether. Both her and her family have fallen victims to hate speech and violent threats as a result of social media trolls and comments.