Is the European Union planning to ban the repair of cars older than 15 years? No, that's not true: On July 23, 2023, the European Commission announced a proposal for a regulation on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on the management of end-of-life vehicles. That would apply to vehicles reaching end-of-life stage (ELVs) and not to cars older than…

Did Croatia Airlines install a system for releasing chemtrails from its planes without the knowledge of the public? No, that's not true: The 2015 article on which the claim is based is satirical, with a disclaimer at the end. Croatia Airlines denied the claim in a written statement in 2020. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok…

Is the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil causing systemic autoimmune disorder in young girls due to the aluminum adjuvant it contains? No, that's not true: The safety of the vaccine is rigorously monitored by both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. According to the European Medicines Agency, there is no credible evidence…

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…

Does George Soros finance the Croatian parliamentary party Možemo! (We Can!)? No, that's not true: Croatian law prohibits the financing of Croatian political parties by foreign countries, foreign political parties, foreign legal entities, or foreign natural persons. A party spokesperson contacted by Lead Stories blamed right-wing parties for promoting the false claim linking the left-leaning party to widely debunked conspiracy…

Is medical insurance, along with other rights, being terminated for Croatians while migrants have them for free? No, that's not true: In Croatia, medical insurance is mandatory for all residents and foreigners with approved residence. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by @kinginvictus33 on January 10, 2024, under the title (translated from Croatian to English by…

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…

Did the Croatian government warn health care workers against the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines but hide them from the citizens? No, that's not true: The Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED) has published news about vaccines against COVID disease and other topics from a meeting of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on its…

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…

Are two of Croatia's most highly circulating daily newspapers, Večernji List and 24 SATA, owned by a Serbian media company, Adria Media Group? No, that's not true: The Croatian dailies are owned by the Austrian Styria Media Group. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on December 12, 2023, with a caption translated into English from…

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 the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina part of the Republic of Croatia? No, that's not true: Vojvodina is an autonomous province in the northernmost part of the Republic of Serbia. Throughout much of history, Vojvodina and Croatia were joined under various rulers, including the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia…

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…