Meeting with Alexander Soros was part of the new Western Balkans regional initiative
Original title: “Zaev asked for money from Soros, Albanian votes from Rama and gave El Cheka bombs for DUI?”
The portal Republika published an article with the above-mentioned title, which, although posed as a question, still contains the answer that Zaev asked for money from Soros, Albanian votes from Rama, and gave El Cheka bombs for DUI.
“Namely, during the meeting with Alexander Soros in Ohrid, Zaev asked him for money for campaign financing and media support, and in return, if the announced autumn wave of migrants occurs, agreed that, as Prime Minister he will provide a fast transport route to Northern Europe for some of them, and that he will keep a part of them in the country, where the Macedonian government will provide space and conditions for their housing.
Meanwhile, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is also known to be close to billionaire Soros, allegedly asked him to influence and help secure Albanian votes that would go to SDSM. Rama’s response to Zaev’s request was allegedly that the Albanians were free citizens and he did not keep those votes in his pocket, making a point that if he interfered, DUI would object this. The portal unofficially learned that Zaev had reported that a senior police official had traveled to Chicago and met El Cheka, supplying him with materials that would compromise DUI in the upcoming period,” is said in the article by Republika.
Except for the empty conspiracy theories, the portal Republika doesn’t offer any evidence but refers to their unofficial sources. The content of the text is a false and unverified description of the events and persons presented, presenting them as part or result of some hidden plan (plot). The “conspiracy” implies secretly associating and acting of a particular group of people, in this case of Prime Minister Zaev, Alexander Soros, Albanian Prime Minister Rama and El Cheka who allegedly “want to pursue personal interests” that are “harmful” to the state.
Namely, the “hidden plan” allegedly results from the meeting with George Soros’s son, Alexander Soros in Ohrid. In the absence of evidence for this whole “alleged plan”, the text can be classified as a media conspiracy theory, created by the portal Republika.
The portal Republika also publishes a series of photographs in an attempt to give the text as much meaning and credibility as possible. The photos, according to them, should show great security arranged for Alexander Soros. What the portal doesn’t say is that two prime ministers and one president (Prime Ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, President of Serbia), as well as senior representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development etc. are also staying in Ohrid the same day. A helicopter and large police security is the standard procedure for visiting such senior officials.
The government confirms in a written response the purpose of the meeting: Alexander Soros met Zaev in Ohrid because of the “mini-Schengen”, which was also part of the new regional initiative for the Western Balkans. The meetings were held with representatives of the European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Regional Cooperation Council, as well as with the Vice-President of the Open Society Foundations, Alexander Soros, who, as they say from the Government, are advocating for human rights, justice, better public health and education.
The news with this headline and content hiding a conspiracy theory, created by the portal Republika, without any official and credible evidence, yet unverified, continues to be transmitted for a short time by a number of portals: pressingtv.mk, vecer.mk, kurir.mk, vesnik.com, digitalnews.mk, lider.com (later deleted), ekonomski.mk, infomax.mk (later deleted), ripostmk.com, denesen.mk.
The purpose of this conspiracy media theory is political interest. The basis for it is the information on the meeting of the Western Balkan leaders in Ohrid and a disinformation with elements of conspiracy theory is further created, in order to manipulate the public about the allegedly hidden plan of Prime Minister Zaev that is harmful to the people. This misleads the public about the work of the Government and the Prime Minister. The result of such media coverage is in any case detrimental to the public.
Alexander Soros is a participant in many similar forums around the world. The participation in the mini-Schengen summit in Ohrid is not a precedent on which a conspiracy theory can be built. For example, just days after the Ohrid summit, Alexander Soros also participated in the Paris Peace Forum (November 11-13), along with most world leaders, including the regional leaders.
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