Did the Croatian President Zoran Milanović state that the Republic of Croatia plans on occupying Russia? No, that's not true: In 2022, Zoran Milanović made a satirical comment about the Croatian Electricity Company (HEP) and gas prices, saying that it's time to overrun Moscow in order to settle the matter with gas prices. His comment was a joke, not an…

Do migrants in Croatia receive 20,000 euros, or $21,705, which is four times more than an average pensioner gets annually? No, that's not true: Minister of Internal Affairs Davor Božinović rejected the claims made by parliamentarians that Croatia should pay someone 20,000 euros for each migrant. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok on January 6, 2024. It began…

Will livestock farming on the island of Krk be destroyed by competition from the Redefine Meat Company, which produces plant-based meat-like products? No, that's not true: The Krški Pašnjaci association protested poor conditions for livestock farmers in Croatia on December 2, 2023. However, Redefine Meat was not mentioned as one of their concerns, nor were any other companies. The claim…

Is HDZ, the leading political party in Croatia, trying to cause a famine to eventually "populate Croatia with migrants"? No, that's not true: HDV is not trying to "starve Croatians to death"; it has implemented measures against the African swine fever outbreak, which has affected the country since June 26, 2023. Several documents, laws, and state and European Union-level orders…

Are Europe, the Croatian government and the media planning on emptying Slavonija, Baranja and the mountainous parts of Croatia to make room for migrants? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Croatian authorities are implementing a depopulation policy or that the country is being systematically emptied. Croatia has had a severe population decline for several years for various…

Is the German government ordering children from poor families to engage in prostitution as a sustainable way to make money? No, that's not true: A German children's book funded by the local government of the city of Berlin aimed to explain prostitution to children aged 6 to 12 living in Berlin's red-light district but did not "order children to engage…

Did the Rainforest Alliance change its logo and switch to using the Fairtrade Foundation's logo instead? No, that's not true: The Rainforest Alliance did not alter its red-eyed tree frog seal on products. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok by user jerrynidzo on September 24, 2023, under the title (translated from Croatian to English by…

Was the bird flu outbreak planned by the "New World Order" and "globalists" as part of a "big reset" plot to kill healthy poultry in a bid to hurt independent Croatian farmers? No, that's not true: Food and animal health experts have told Lead Stories the claim is misinformation and is not based on credible facts. The claim originated from…

Will the Archdiocese of Zagreb receive ten new churches in exchange for ceding property it owns near the city's new Maksimir stadium? No, that's not true: The city is not committed to building or delivering ten new churches. Instead, it will donate construction plots in the Zagreb area to the Church and, in exchange, the Church will give up plots…

Did Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković say that farmers and Croatians are terrorists? No, that's not true: He said that Croatian security services had identified two extremist groups and two individuals who, they said, would "destroy the social order using violent methods" among pig farmers protesting government measures to combat an outbreak of African swine fever. The claim appeared in…

Was a relatively recent variant of COVID-19 given its name because of 5G mobile phone signals? No, that's not true: New COVID strains are given names according to defined classification systems. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on September 27, 2023, with a text overlay (translated from Croatian to English by Lead Stories staff) that read:…

Is all media in Croatia held by the leading party HDZ (otherwise known as the Croatian Democratic Union)? No, that's not true: No media in Croatia is owned or in any way connected to the party. This claim originated after it was recently discovered that an adviser to the now-former Minister of Economy Davor Filipović, Jurica Lovrinčević, was having the…

Does a video show Serbian singer Aleksandra Prijović singing a Serbian nationalistic song called "Veseli se srpski rode" at a concert in Zagreb, Croatia? No, that's not true: The video footage is from one of her recent concerts in Belgrade, Serbia, not Zagreb, and the audio from the video has been edited. There is no record of Prijović singing that…

Does a video prove that NATO is planning on starting a war in Bosnia and Herzegovina? No, that's not true: The video is from the joint press conference by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held in Sarajevo, on November 20, 2023. In the press conference, the Secretary-General stated that NATO has committed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for many years, and that they are…

Did Reuters news agency report that Poland, Sweden and Norway filed a lawsuit against the World Health Organization for infecting Europe with a chemical sprayed from airplanes that causes pneumonia? No, that's not true: The recycled claim involving the WHO, so-called chemtrails and the three European countries has been previously debunked by Reuters. A far wider conspiracy involving so-called chemtrails…

Did Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković ban media coverage of former Minister of Defense Mario Banožić after he was involved in a fatal traffic accident? No, that's not true: Articles and reports on Banožić are being published daily in all Croatian news agencies and other media outlets. There is no evidence that Plenković issued any "ban" on reporting on Banožić…

Will Zagreb residents be put on a scoring system that will evaluate their CO₂ emissions and determine what food they can buy after a carbon currency system is put in place? No, that's not true: There is no mention of such a plan on the official website of the City of Zagreb, Croatia, and no credible media organization has reported…

Did Croatian politician and activist Ivan Pernar find "the son of Zagreb's mayor" in an elementary school? No, that's not true: Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević, and his wife, Iva Mertić Tomašević, have no children. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by Pernar on September 28, 2023, under the title (translated from Croatian to English by Lead…

Is the city-owned company Zagrebački Holding buying garbage trucks from Mozambique for its branch waste management company Čistoća? No, that's not true: A spokesperson from Zagrebački Holding told Lead Stories that this claim is false. The claim originated from a video (archived here) on TikTok by user @nemozemo on December 3, 2023, under the title (translated from Croatian to English…

Are "chemtrails" spreading whooping cough in Croatia? No, that's not true: Croatia is facing a whooping cough epidemic due to falling vaccination rates that one health official says is due to online misinformation. Also, chemtrails don't exist, experts say. The claim originated in a video (archived here) on TikTok on November 19, 2023, with the title (translated from Croatian to…