Monthly Monitoring Highlight January

During the month of February, the RDN monitoring team identified a range of hateful narratives and discourse driven by hatred towards people with disabilities, xenophobic and Islamophobic narratives, ethnic discrimination and online gender-based hate.

Hatred spread towards people with disabilities in Albania

During a live broadcast of the reality television show Big Brother VIP 5, contestant Rogerti (Rogert Sterkaj) directed a highly offensive statement toward fellow contestant Stenaldo Mehilli, who is blind. Rogert told him: “Ty të ka dënuar Zoti” (“God has punished you”) when referring to his condition. The statement was made during a heated verbal argument and explicitly linked Stenaldo’s disability to divine punishment.

The phrase “God has punished you” constitutes a classic form of discrimination, historically used to stigmatise persons with disabilities by framing disability as a moral failure, curse, or divine retribution. This framing strips the individual of dignity and reinforces harmful narratives that disabilities are deserved or indicative of inferiority. Although directed at an individual, the statement extends beyond personal insult and targets people with disabilities in general. By suggesting that blindness is a form of divine punishment, the discourse implicitly devalues the lives, worth, and humanity of people with disabilities as a group.

The incident triggered immediate public backlash, including statements from disability rights organisations, reactions from  Mehilli’s family via Instagram, and extensive coverage by online media portals. The Network of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities issued a formal public statement condemning the language as hate speech and a serious violation of human dignity. The statement recalled Albania’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified in 2013, and linked the incident to broader European integration standards on human rights and equality. They called for immediate disciplinary measures by the production, including exclusion of participants using hate speech, an intervention by the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) and action to be taken by the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, with a formal complaint announced.

Consequently, the production crew initially placed Rogert Sterkaj in the so-called “reflection room” and opened a public televote as to his fate on the show. On 8 February 2026, during the Prime episode, it was announced that the public had voted for Rogert to return to the house. Despite the severity of the language and formal reactions from disability rights organisations, the final decision to allow Rogert’s return following a public televote illustrates a failure to apply clear ethical standards.

Misogynistic and xenophobic narratives spread online in Serbia

Bogdan Ilić, also known as Baka Prase, one of the most popular Serbian influencers, was interviewed by Minja Miletić in Telekom Srbija’s podcast Telecast. Telekom is, for the largest part, owned by the Republic of Serbia. During the interview, Baka Prase shared a plethora of harmful statements and narratives. Among other things, he states the allegations of paedophilia against him were false because the girls he was involved with claimed to be 18. Here he defended himself by stating that it’s not his duty to check someone’s age because he is not a police officer. This public renouncing of accountability removes responsibility from men, which is incredibly harmful to girls, as it puts them at risk from predatory men.

Recently, Baka Prase claimed he would run as candidate in the next elections. In Telecast’s interview, he shared what he would do if he were to become the mayor of Belgrade. This included the firing of Indian and Pakistani workers from domestic firms, the eviction of refugees from the city centre (as they pose a threat to women), the firing of migrant bus drivers (as they are incompetent), the ban on Pride and LGBTQI+ literature from schools and the media.  Considering his popularity, Baka Prase’s racist and homophobic views are greatly harmful to marginalised groups. His online influence is so great that Baka Prase was even a guest on President Vučić’s fist TikTok live, which he discussed in the Telecast podcast. Furthermore, given his large platform and audience, the video itself reached over 451.000 views and 25.000 likes within 48 hours, posing the threat of amplifying such narratives and normalising harmful rhetoric. An individual such as Baka Prase, who has a large following and platform, should not be using it to spread hateful, xenophobic, racist and misogynistic narratives without any accountability for the harm it can inflict on others.

Ethnic discrimination in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia

Former President of the Bosnia and Herzegovina entity Republika Srpska and president of the SNSD party, Milorad Dodik, spoke on Monday, 9 February 2026, at a press conference of the SNSD leadership following the repeat election for President of Republika Srpska held on Sunday, 8 February 2026. In the repeat vote, SNSD candidate Siniša Karan was chosen as president.

On that occasion, Dodik once again spread hatred toward Bosniaks, using insults and referring to them as “balije”*,” as well as calling them “Muslims.” He also, once again, denied the genocide in Srebrenica. “That is why the Muslims invented Srebrenica,” Dodik said in a video published on the YouTube account of public broadcaster RTRS, after which the recording cut off and approximately six seconds could not be heard. “The threats of war coming from Muslims are clichés they use only to divert our struggle for our political goals,” was one of Dodik’s statements during the press conference. He also went on to claim that “Muslims had the opportunity to build a state; they built nothing,”.

Dodik’s statements contain elements widely recognised as hate speech, including the use of derogatory language toward an ethnic group and the denial of the Srebrenica genocide, which international courts have legally established. Dodik is well known for denying the Srebrenica genocide, as well as for glorifying war criminals, including Ratko Mladić, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for genocide in Srebrenica, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats, the terror campaign against civilians in Sarajevo, and the taking of UNPROFOR peacekeepers as hostages. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, following the July 2021 amendment to the Criminal Code imposed by the Office of the High Representative (OHR),the denial of genocide and war crimes and the glorification of war criminals is banned if it is ‘likely to incite to violence or hatred’ with penalties from six months up to five years of incarceration.

* The term “balije” is considered a pejorative and offensive slur directed at Bosniaks. Referring to Bosniaks exclusively as “Muslims” in a political context is also frequently interpreted as an attempt to deny their ethnic identity.

In another case, on 13 February 2026, Marko Perković Thompson held a concert in Široki Brijeg, where the audience was marked by an abundance of Nazi and fascist iconography, triggering widespread condemnation.

Marin Vukoja, a judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also attended the concert. The media identified Vukoja among the audience based on photographs published on Thompson’s official profile. The Constitutional Court of BiH stated that Vukoja’s appearance at the concert would be discussed at one of its upcoming sessions.

In his songs, Thompson uses the salute “Za dom spremni” (“Ready for the homeland”), which was the official salute of the fascist Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and was also used by HOS units during the 1990s wars. The chant “Za dom spremni” was also heard during the concert.

The chanting of slogans associated with the Ustaša regime prompted reactions from the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both of which expressed concern. The Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina also reacted, stating that fascist ideologies have no place in a democratic society.

Several days later, on 16 February 2026, the Deputy Chair of the House of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina and leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ), Dragan Čović, hosted Thompson at the HDZ headquarters in Mostar. “Pleasant meeting with dear friend Marko Perković at the HDZ of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Čović wrote on the X platform, posting a photograph with him.

The Srebrenica Memorial Center condemned the meeting between the president of HDZ BiH and Thompson, stating that it involved a performer whose concerts and repertoire have long been associated with Ustaša-era symbolism and historical revisionism. It was also noted that Thompson’s concerts have repeatedly featured NDH flags, Ustaša insignia, and instances of Nazi salutes among audience members.

In Tetovo, North Macedonia, highly offensive interethnic hate messages have appeared, including graffiti reading “Death to Albanians” in the city center and in Tearcë village, alongside social media posts showing a symbol linked to VMRO-DPMNE depicting a sword beheading an eagle, a sensitive Albanian symbol. Authorities have not yet identified the perpetrators, while citizens have called for urgent action to prevent escalation of interethnic tensions.

Tetovo is a city in North Macedonia with a mixed ethnic population, primarily Albanians and Macedonians, and a history of ethnic tensions. While daily life is generally peaceful, political, historical, and social fault lines can quickly amplify provocations.

The recent graffiti and social media posts, displaying explicitly anti-Albanian messages and symbols linked to VMRO-DPMNE, a major Macedonian political party, fit into a broader pattern of nationalist provocations that exploit these sensitivities. Similar incidents have been reported in nearby villages, suggesting that this is not an isolated act but part of a worrying trend of increasing interethnic hostility.

The context also involves political competition and polarisation in North Macedonia, where parties sometimes leverage nationalist sentiment, and where social media acts as a rapid amplifier of provocative content. The combination of public hate messaging and online circulation increases the risk of real-world tensions, drawing urgent attention from citizens and highlighting the need for a swift institutional response.

Religious misunderstandings in Kosovo 

The Directorate of Education in the Municipality of Pristina, in recognition of the holy month of Ramadan and out of respect for those who are fasting, decided that classes in Pristina schools will begin at 07:30, that the time between shifts will be shortened, and that long breaks will be reduced. These changes were adopted with the aim of completing the school day by 17:00 at the latest, without reducing the number or duration of teaching hours in order to be home for Iftar. 

A number of intellectuals, analysts, politicians, and representatives of several NGOs reacted to this decision, noting that Kosovo is a secular state. Among those who responded was Blerim Latifi, a university professor, who wrote on his Facebook page: “Yes, this is exactly how these things begin: with small decisions, seemingly insignificant at first glance, such as aligning public school schedules with religious ritual timetables; then, slowly and quietly, it moves on to adopting state laws in accordance with the demands of religious dogma, and one day, without even realising what has happened, an ayatollah appears at the head of the state. However, since we are in Europe, it may take at most a week before Serbian tanks get the green light to march into Kosovo”. A considerable number of commentators reacted to this post of his, who used hateful language towards Latifi. 

Regardless of being a secular state or not, one can have respect for diversity. In a country like Kosovo, home to different ethnicities and religions, learning to honor each other’s traditions are part of everyday life. 

In the same month, the German public radio station Deutschlandfunk broadcast a reportage of approximately 20 minutes on religious tensions in Kosovo. The reportage discussed concerns about the influence of radical religious groups and their potential impact on social cohesion. 

One of the interviewees was Catholic cleric Shan Zefi, General Vicar of the Diocese of Prizren–Pristina. After the broadcast, journalist Enver Robelli published a Facebook post citing the report’s translation of Zefi’s remarks, according to which he had allegedly stated: “As a Muslim, you do not have an Albanian soul.” The post generated significant public debate and criticism, and several media outlets reported on Robelli’s comments. 

In a subsequent post, Robelli explained that after obtaining the audio recording of the interview from the report’s author, Benedikt Schulz, he concluded that the wording used in the German broadcast represented a shortened or interpretative translation. According to the audio recording, the statement was phrased as: “…because with costumes, clothes, with these garments, there is no spirit… that is to say… there is no Albanian spirit.” Robelli noted that the interview had been conducted in Albanian with a translator present and suggested that translation and interpretation during the exchange may have contributed to ambiguity. 

Zefi, through a social media post publicly rejected the interpretation that he had claimed Muslims lack an “Albanian soul,” stating that the statement attributed to him represented a distortion of his words. In his statements, he emphasised that he had never suggested that religious affiliation determines Albanian national identity. He stated that his remarks had been taken out of context and requested the full audio recording and translation of the interview. 

Zefi in his post stated that he had communicated with Schulz, and that the German broadcaster initiated a correction procedure of the reportage. The journalist, according to Zefi, informed him that the contested quotation had been replaced with a literal translation. The corrected version reads: “With these costumes, these clothes, there is no soul… no Albanian soul” while the original Albanian wording was cited as: “sepse me kostume, tesha, kostum, e me këto veshje, nuk ka shpirt… nuk ka shpirt shqiptari.” The broadcaster also noted that a correction notice had been added to the report.

Meanwhile, for Robelli, Shan Zefi’s statement regarding clothing has remained problematic. On Klan Kosova, specifically in the program Ora shtatë, one of the participants, historian Asdren Shala, stated that he had received a message from a friend in Germany who said he had watched the program and claimed that Shan Zefi had not made the statement for which he was being criticised, and that the statement about clothing referred to the burqa, that is, clothing that is not part of Kosovo’s tradition and culture. The full interview of Shan Zefi for the German public radio is not currently available online. 

Sexism and gender-based online hate in Montenegro

After publicly criticizing the court decision to order detention for Vesna Bratić, MP Anđela Vojinović became the target of a wave of insults, misogynistic comments, and threats. The incident was not an isolated case, but rather organised digital violence and a ‘bot’ campaign aimed at discrediting, intimidating, and silencing her as a woman in politics. Although the comments have since been removed, Vojinović screenshot the comments as evidence.

Observers and media monitoring organisations have assessed that the volume, repetition, and similarity of messages suggest elements of a coordinated “bot” or troll campaign, rather than spontaneous individual reactions. The goal of such campaigns is typically to discredit, intimidate, and silence political actors, especially women. This incident is therefore not only about one politician, but also reflects a broader pattern of digital violence, political polarisation, and gender-based harassment in Montenegro’s online space.

In another case of gender-based online hate, multiple misogynistic and sexist comments and online attacks were directed at the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue, Naida Nišić, on social media after she presented proposed amendments to the Labour Law. The amendments included extending parental leave to ten months for mothers and two months for fathers, aimed at improving parental rights and gender equality in childcare.

The proposal was intended to align labour policies with European standards and improve family and gender equality measures. However, the debate on social media shifted away from the legal proposal to personal attacks targeting Minister Nišić’s gender and appearance. Such reactions reflect a broader pattern of misogyny and hostility toward women in politics in Montenegro, contributing to a discouraging environment for women’s participation in public life.

Instead of a policy-based debate, public reactions included insults, sexist remarks, and misogynistic attacks. Public officials, NGOs, and women’s organisations condemned these attacks, highlighting hate speech and attempts to discredit and humiliate the minister on the basis of her gender rather than the content of the reform.