Did Israeli businessman and industrialist Amir Gross Kabiri declare the territory of Aluminij d.d. Mostar company, in Bosnia and Herzegovina part of the "State of Israel"? No, that's not true: Kabiri, CEO of Aluminij Industries, only posted on Instagram a picture of the Israeli flag on the premises of the Aluminij company in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a sign…

Did Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević import mosquitos to transmit diseases and vaccinate people with mRNA vaccines? No, that's not true: 100,000 sterile male mosquitoes imported from Italy were released in Zagreb as a way to fight a tiger mosquito infestation. They were not imported to spread diseases or to vaccinate people. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here)…

Are authorities in Zagreb evicting Croatian citizens in order to turn over their apartments to migrants? No, that's not true: City officials do not have the authority to evict private property owners. The Croatian government can provide a migrant who is currently under international protection with a state-owned apartment only if it is not currently occupied. The claim appeared in…

Will former Croatian Minister of Defense Mario Banožić be sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison for causing a fatal car accident on November 11, 2023, due to negligence? No, that's not true: Banožić, who has now been removed from his duties, is still in the hospital in serious condition. An investigation led by the State Attorney's Office…

Are the red northern lights seen all over Croatia on November 5, 2023, a sign of harmful cosmic radiation exposure? No, that's not true: Northern lights -- also known as aurora borealis -- result from the collision of charged solar particles with the Earth's atmosphere. They are seen as a display of dynamic patterns of lights that appear as different…

Is Sombor a city in the Republic of Croatia? No, that's not true: Sombor is a city located in the northwestern Bačka district of the Vojvodina province in Serbia, close to the Serbia-Hungary border. During its history, Sombor has been part of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, has belonged to the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom…

Did the pop star Madonna predict the Hamas-Israel conflict four years before it began? No, that's not true: Madonna's 2019 Eurovision Song Contest performance made an apparent call for peace by showing embracing dancers wearing Israeli and Palestinian flags. It's not the first time that her controversial mid-show act has been linked to conspiracy theories. The claim appeared in a…

Did Kosovan and Albanian presidents say that Israel should keep on bombing "Palestine" and "hospitals in Palestine"? No, that's not true: Kosovan President Vjosa Osmani and Albanian President Bajram Begaj both expressed their support for Israel in the ongoing conflict with Hamas on October 7, 2023, but never called for violence. Lead Stories did not find any statements or reports…

Did an electric bus catch fire in Bradford, England, highlighting issues with lithium-ion batteries? No, that's not true: The fire started on a diesel bus, an email from the transport operator that owns the vehicle and a search of the U.K. government's vehicle tax records confirmed. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on October 13, 2023,…

Is the HAARP Facility located in Petrova Gora in Croatia? No, that's not true: The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, a facility for studying the ionosphere is located near Gakona, Alaska, and it is the only facility of its kind in the world. A conspiracy theory about the Program and its intentions for climate control has circulated on the Internet…

Did Pope Francis order priests to announce that Lucifer is the new God of the Catholic Church? No, that's not true: The leader of the Catholic Church has no authority to announce a new God and the post promotes known misinformation and conspiracy theories linking the World Economic Forum, its found Klaus Schwab, and a so-called New World Order. The…

Has the Republic of Croatia pledged to send five hundred million euros in aid to Ukraine in October 2023? No, that's not true: Croatia will help Ukraine with five million euros for demining purposes, in addition to the five million euros already donated for the same purpose, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced at the opening of the International Donor Conference…

Is the army going to guard fences around Zagreb's historical center, under renovation plans that draw on a "15-minute city" urban planning concept? No, that's not true: The concept, in which people can access most of their daily needs or services within a 15-minute walk, bike or public transport ride, is mentioned in Zagreb's 2021 urban renovation plan in relation…

Is the Croatian government implementing a population replacement policy by forcing the Croatian population away and importing foreigners into the country? No, that's not true: The decrease of the resident population and the increase of the foreign population stem from different factors. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok by Nikola Grmoja, a Croatian member of parliament and the…

Will all Balkan immigrants who have been granted asylum have to leave Germany? No, that's not true: Germany is introducing a tougher asylum policy, as the German Cabinet approved on October 25, 2023, a legislative proposal that would ease the deportation of rejected asylum-seekers. Immigrants who successfully obtained asylum, though, would not be deported, and the draft legislation still has…

Do Ukrainian refugees in Croatia have all their expenses paid, receive free villas on the Adriatic coast, free pensions and health insurance, and receive a monthly allowance of 2000 euros per month? No, that's not true: Refugees from Ukraine under temporary protection in Croatia, can access free care through public health care institutions, have open access to the Croatian labor…

Will migrants have the right to vote in the Republic of Croatia? No, that's not true: Currently, in Croatia, foreign citizens who wish to obtain the right to vote must have a permanent or temporary residence status in the country and they have to apply for registration in the voters' register three months before the elections they wish to vote…

Did Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić declare war on Kosovo and order Serbian soldiers to go there? No, that's not true: Lead Stories did not find a single report of Vučić announcing war on Kosovo or sending Serbia's national army to attack Kosovo. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on May 28, 2023. The text overlay (translated…

Did the European Union direct Croatia to import two hundred thousand workers from the Middle East into the country? No, that's not true: No such order was issued from the European Union's headquarters in Belgium. The claim misleadingly referred to a Croatian news article on the country's credit rating which reported that Croatia would need to attract two hundred thousand…

Did a CNN correspondent and a Croatian Radiotelevision journalist try to mislead viewers while reporting on the Hamas-Israel conflict? No, that's not true: A video purporting to show American journalist Clarissa Ward taking instructions in her earpiece has been manipulated while the Croatian journalist was reporting in an area where Israel issued rocket warnings. The claim reappeared as a video…