Following the announcement of Serbia early elections, the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has claimed through media, that the opposition is attacking his family and therefore, all Serbian families, claiming that Vučić’s biological father is an Albanian journalist. A fact-check by Faktoje indicates that the claim, which has been repeated for at least 10 years, is brought back into attention by Vučić himself. The researcher, Nikola Petrovic from ISAC Fund Serbia, considers this as a strategy by the Serbian Progressive Party to discredit the opposition ahead of the 17th of December elections.
Jona Plumbi
Serbia is in a pre-election fever.
The Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiç dissolved the government, and the country announced early parliamentary elections on 17th of December, as well as local elections in several cities and municipalities, including the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
With the start of the election campaign in Serbia, an old “ghost” has been “revived,” which, although recycled for at least 10 years, still manages to attract increased attention in Serbia and in the region.
A recycled claim
The raised claim, also spread by Serbian media, is that the biological father of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is, in indeed, Fahri Musliu, an Albanian journalist from Kosovo. This claim has been circulating for at least 10 years in Serbia.
(Left to right) Fahri Musliu, journalist from Kosovo; Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia; Anđelko Vučić, father of Aleksandar Vučić
- 2014 – New Contributions to Aleksandar Vučić’s Biography: Fahri’s Son”
- 2017 – Shocking: Albanian at the Helm of Serbia
- 2018 – It was said that he is Vučić’s father – The Albanian journalist: I know his mother, but not…”
- 2022 – Nano surprises with the statement: Vučić is Albanian, here are the facts
However, the renewed attention to this “rose-colored” thesis of Serbian politics has come this time from President Aleksandar Vučić himself.
On 29th of October, the Serbian media reported that in a several-hour-long interview on the Serbian television Prava, while discussing opposition attacks in Serbia, Vučić brought attention to the thesis of his origin.
““They attack me saying I have ugly lips- I haven’t done anything to my lips – the fault is with my mother who gave birth to me like this. It’s a matter of genetics. “They accuse me that my father is Fahrudin Musliu. By the way, I tell them that my father is called Anđelko Vučić and not Fahrudin Musliu ”, reported to have said Aleksandar Vučić. Vučić, in his statement, does not specify who are “they” that accuse him.
From an in-depth search on the internet, no statement or media article on this topic is found, at least from the moment of the announcement of the early elections. To verify our findings, we asked the journalist Sanja Kljajic, correspondent for Deutsche Welle in Serbia, who confirmed that it was “Vučić himself who brought attention to the claim about his father.”
“He didn’t mention someone specifically, but he said he was responding to issues for which ‘they’ were attacking him.” Who ‘they’ are, of course, remained unspecified.” – Sanja Kljajic, Deutsche Welle, Serbia.
Nevertheless, what stands out prominently on the internet are Vučić’s statements denying having an Albanian father.
- Vučić: They accuse me that my father is Fahrudin Musliu– 29th of October
- Vučić: “My father is Anđelko Vučić, not Fahrudin Musliu!” – October 30 !
- Vučić: I tell you again, my father is Anđelko” – 3rd of November
Chronology
A few days after the interview on 29th of October, when Vučić drew attention to the Serbian public regarding the claim that raises doubts about his biological father, “Danas” media published an article referring to this statement titled ““Albanian in Belgrade: Who is Fahri Musliu, for whom Vučić says is not his father?”
“Danas” writes that the journalist, Fahri Musliu, suffered years ago due to statements by some Serbian journalists claiming that he is the biological father of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić’.
As if it were not enough that tabloids are making his life miserable, it’s also Vučić himself who little by little, publicly (with no need), says that Musliu is not his father. – – writes Danas in the article.
Serbian Ministry of Information reacted within 24 hours.
It condemned the Danas’ article claiming that the writing casts doubt on the President of Serbia credibility and his family and violates the Serbian Code of Journalism. It particularly emphasizes that “This text directly offends the personality and credibility of the President of the Republic of Serbia, whose role by law expresses the unity of the Republic of Serbia, as well as offends members of his family, “according to the statement according to the statement from the Serbian Ministry.
Rhetoric’s
One day after the Ministry of Information reaction regarding Danas’ article, Vučić published published a video on his Instagram. Alongside his father, Vučić expressed appreciation for his parents and raised the claim that the attacks on his family are, indeed, attacks on Serbian families as a whole.
“They didn’t just attack our family, my mother, the wife of my father, as well as me and my father, they attacked every family in Serbia, they want the destruction of our families”.-says Vučić in the video.
Even though those who attack remain unidentified, the media extensively reported Vučić’s rhetoric as his response to those accusing him.
In the video, Vučić states that it is necessary to respond to numerous attacks, although he manages to quote only Danas’ article from Danas on the 2nd of November 2 as “accusatory”.
Nikola Petrović, a researcher and founder of the ISAC Fund in Serbia, told Faktoje that narratives such as the one about Vučić’s biological father are revived by Vučić and his team as part of the electoral campaign of the Serbian Progressive Party.
“General parliamentary and local elections in Serbia are scheduled for the 7th of December this year, and as always, the SNS (Serbian Progressive Party) team is using a strategy to discredit opposition parties and pro-opposition media by initiating a preventive campaign through the promotion of such disinformation narratives, as if they are the opposition’s actual narratives and goals.. Therefore, the phrase “…this is an attack on President Vučić and his family…” has been heard hundreds of times in the last decade, both SNS elite and pro-government media”.– Petrović argues for Faktoje.
Vučić resigned from the leadership of the Serbian Progressive Party in May of this year, but continues the campaign for his party. On the other hand, the Serbian opposition has decided to unite after organizing months-long protests against Vučić and his government, following two cases of mass shootings that occurred within less than 48 hours, leaving 17 dead, including eight children.
Conclusion
Dissemination of disinformation narratives on social networks and media for the sake of electoral campaigns has already become a well-known strategy. The narrative raising doubts about the real father of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić falls within this category.
In chess, players make a move known as ‘gambit’. According to this move, the player initially sacrifices one or more pieces, of little importance, to achieve a more advantageous position later on and to win the game. Bringing it back to public and media attention by Vučić himself on a claim that raises doubts about his origin, subsequent statements to deny any political or serious accusation, and the use of rhetoric that this attack is directed at all Serbian families, appears to be a “gambit” move by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, seeking a better position ahead of the 17th of December elections.
