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140-667: Preševo is the cultural center of Albanians in Serbia . Albanians form the ethnic majority of the municipality, followed by Serbs , Roma and other ethnic groups. Slavs arrived roughly in the 7th century, when they first migrated to the Balkans, and by the Middle Ages, Preševo was part of the Kingdom of Serbia. According to Stefan Dušan 's charter to the monastery of Arhiljevica dated August 1355, sevastokrator Dejan possessed

280-743: A buffer state between the West and the Soviet Union and also prevented the Soviets from getting a toehold on the Mediterranean Sea . The central government's control began to be loosened due to increasing nationalist grievances and the Communist's Party's wish to support "national self determination ". This resulted in Kosovo being turned into an autonomous region of Serbia, legislated by

420-469: A collapse of existing collectivist arrangements". (Tito died soon after the book was published.) On 4 May 1980, Tito's death was announced through state broadcasts across Yugoslavia. His death removed what many international political observers saw as Yugoslavia's main unifying force, and subsequently ethnic tension started to grow in Yugoslavia. The crisis that emerged in Yugoslavia was connected with

560-698: A coup d'état in October 1988, but not a second one in January 1989. In addition to Serbia itself, Milošević could now install representatives of the two provinces and SR Montenegro in the Yugoslav Presidency Council. The very instrument that reduced Serbian influence before was now used to increase it: in the eight member Presidency, Milošević could count on a minimum of four votes – SR Montenegro (following local events), his own through SR Serbia, and now SAP Vojvodina and SAP Kosovo as well. In

700-487: A large province east of Skopska Crna Gora . It included the old župe (counties) of Žegligovo and Preševo (modern Kumanovo region with Sredorek , Kozjačija and the larger part of Pčinja ). As despot under the rule of Uroš V, Dejan was entrusted with the administration of the territory between South Morava , Pčinja , Skopska Crna Gora (hereditary lands) and in the east, the Upper Struma river with Velbuzhd,

840-557: A meeting in the Cankar Hall in Ljubljana, co-organized with the democratic opposition forces , publicly endorsing the efforts of Albanian protesters who demanded that Vllasi be released. In the 1995 BBC2 documentary The Death of Yugoslavia , Kučan claimed that in 1989, he was concerned that with the successes of Milošević's anti-bureaucratic revolution in Serbia's provinces as well as Montenegro, that his small republic would be

980-726: A memorial plaque from the World War II in Viti with a crane, and were not prevented by the Kosovo Police . Till the evening of 21 January over 140 Serbian gravestones were destroyed throughout Kosovo, burned a chapel and several crosses. Subsequently, representatives of the United States, European Union, as well as the OSCE , KFOR and EULEX , sharply condemned the destruction of Serbian monuments and tombs. They added that there

1120-779: A part of Kosovo." Ragmi Mustafa, Preševo's Mayor, confirmed shortly afterwards that the Albanians want a union with Kosovo for a long time. The former president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and a minister in Serbian government Rasim Ljajić responded and said that the Preševo valley will not be part of Kosovo or may be because the Albanian representatives from southern Serbia do not have

1260-570: A province notably larger than during Dušan's life. After the death of Dejan, his province, besides the župe of Žegligovo and Upper Struma, was appropriated to nobleman Vlatko Paskačić . Dejan's eldest son Jovan also received the title of despot , like his father before, by Emperor Uroš. In the new redistribution of feudal power, after 1371, the brothers despot Jovan and gospodin Konstantin greatly expanded their province. Not only did they recreate their father's province but also at least doubled

1400-592: A recognized national minority in Serbia . According to the 2022 census, the population of ethnic Albanians in Serbia is 61,687, constituting 0.93% of the total population. The vast majority of them live in the southern part of the country that borders Kosovo and North Macedonia , called the Preševo Valley . Their cultural center is located in Preševo . In the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac Albanians form

1540-518: A report about the region in 1901–02. In areas of Sandžak which today are part of Serbia, the kaza of Sjenica was inhabited mainly by Orthodox Serbs (69 villages with 624 households) and Bosnian Muslims (46 villages with 655 households). Albanians (505 households) lived exclusively in the town of Sjenica. The kaza of Novi Pazar had 1,749 households in 244 Serb villages and 896 households in 81 Albanian villages. Nine villages inhabited by both Serbs and Albanians had 173 households. The town of Novi Pazar had

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1680-474: A result, from 1830 to the wars of the 1870s, it has been estimated that up to 150,000 Albanians that lived in the territories of the Principality of Serbia had been expelled. In the correspondence of Miloš Obrenović there many indications as to how this process was carried out. Obrenović asked his official Milosav Zdravković to buy the houses of Albanians at a higher price than the market one and ordered

1820-410: A ruling elite, and any tensions were solved on the federal level. The Yugoslav model of state organisation, as well as a "middle way" between planned and liberal economy , had been a relative success, and the country experienced a period of strong economic growth and relative political stability up to the 1980s, under Josip Broz Tito . After his death in 1980, the weakened system of federal government

1960-477: A series of rallies, called "Rallies of Truth", Milošević's supporters succeeded in overthrowing local governments and replacing them with his allies. As a result of these events, in February 1989 ethnic Albanian miners in Kosovo organized a strike , demanding the preservation of the now-endangered autonomy. This contributed to ethnic conflict between the Albanian and Serb populations of the province. At 77% of

2100-608: A significant part of the population of Leskovac and Vranje , and a part of the Muslim community in Niš . A small Albanian community lived in Tran . In the cities, a part of the Muslim population which were identified as Turks were in fact Albanians who had adopted an Ottoman urban culture. A part of the areas where Albanians lived, was administered under the Pashalik of Vranje . In 1843–1844,

2240-403: A strong Yugoslavia" but also hit at the heart of Serbian national sentiment. A majority of Serbs saw – and still see – Kosovo as the "cradle of the nation", and would not accept the possibility of losing it to the majority Albanian population. In an effort to ensure his legacy, Tito's 1974 constitution established a system of year-long presidencies, on a rotation basis out of the eight leaders of

2380-639: A time of austerity. Increasingly, demands were voiced in Serbia for more centralisation in order to force Croatia and Slovenia to pay more into the federal budget, demands that were completely rejected in the "have" republics. The relaxation of tensions with the Soviet Union after Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , the top position in 1985, meant that western nations were no longer willing to be generous with restructuring Yugoslavia's debts, as

2520-587: A total 16) daily in Albanian. A private TV channel which broadcasts mostly in Albanian was funded in 2006. "Radio Presheva" broadcasts 10 hours in Albanian daily. A similar station exists in Bujanovac. In Medveđa, the local state channel broadcasts 5 minutes in Albanian daily and one weekly 60-minute show in Albanian. The main religion of Albanians in the Preševo Valley is Islam . Prior to the Ottoman period ,

2660-577: A total of 1,749 Serb and Albanian households with 8,745 inhabitants. The kaza of Novi Varoš , according the Bulgarian report, was mostly Serbian with the exception of one Muslim Bosnian village and Albanian households in the town of Novi Varoš. The last official registration of the population of the sanjak of Novi Pazar before the Balkan Wars was conducted in 1910. The 1910 Ottoman census recorded 52,833 Muslims and 27,814 Orthodox Serbs. About 65% of

2800-463: Is a needless provocation, nowhere else in Europe can a memorial plaque be erected to those who are members of terrorist organizations and those who were directly involved in the murders of police officers and soldiers". He called for the removal of the stele to 17 January, then several Albanian politicians and organizations responded with criticism. Mayor of Preševo Ragmi Mustafa said that the stele shows

2940-457: Is necessary. He also stated that the Albanian government will do everything in his power to help the Albanians in Serbia. Albin Kurti , leader of the political party Vetëvendosje said instead, that the most responsible for this situation is more likely in Kosovo, the government of Hashim Thaçi . In response to the removal of the stele, dozens of Albanians, led by former UÇK veterans, destroyed

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3080-402: Is no justification for this violence, and that such actions were totally unacceptable. The Abdulla Krashnica Culture Center (Shtëpia e Kulturës "Abdulla Krashnica") is the home to various culture events in Preševo. Its complex includes the town library, music hall and theater. Preševo organizes the annual "Netët e komedisë" (The nights of comedy), a one–week festival with comedy shows from all

3220-891: Is still felt decades later. On April 27, 1992, the Federal Council of the Assembly of the SFRY, based on the decision of the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and the Assembly of Montenegro, adopted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , which formally ended the breakup. Yugoslavia occupied a significant portion of the Balkan Peninsula , including a strip of land on the east coast of

3360-555: Is the ban on opening Albanian language schools in the district of Vranje even though the Tanzimat constitution allowed the opening of schools in the mother tongue of every ethnic community in the Ottoman Empire. In April 1844, rebels from the Preševo valley, Gjilan , Leskovac , Tetovo , Gostivar , Kumanovo defeated Huseyin pasha and took Vranje. The Ottoman army sent more than 10,000 troops with artillery support to suppress

3500-534: Is unacceptable that in Serbia there is a memorial plaque to a terrorist organization and those who killed the citizens of Serbia. He added that is not an ethnic conflict, but the problem is the honoring of those who killed Serbs with a memorial plaque in Serbia. Nevertheless, a member of the Coalition of Albanians of the Preševo Valley , Jonuz Musliu, which has one seat in the Parliament of Serbia , said that

3640-825: The SS (primarily in the 13th Waffen Mountain Division ). At the same time, former royalist, General Milan Nedić , was installed by the Axis as head of the puppet government in the German-occupied area of Serbia, and local Serbs were recruited into the Gestapo and the Serbian Volunteer Corps , which was linked to the German Waffen-SS . Both quislings were confronted and eventually defeated by

3780-602: The 1974 constitution . This constitution broke down powers between the capital and the autonomous regions in Vojvodina (an area of Yugoslavia with a large number of ethnic minorities) and Kosovo (with a large ethnic- Albanian population). Despite the federal structure of the new Yugoslavia , there was still tension between the federalists, primarily Croats and Slovenes who argued for greater autonomy, and unitarists , primarily Serbs. The struggle would occur in cycles of protests for greater individual and national rights (such as

3920-788: The Adriatic Sea , stretching southward from the Bay of Trieste in Central Europe to the mouth of Bojana as well as Lake Prespa inland, and eastward as far as the Iron Gates on the Danube and Midžor in the Balkan Mountains , thus including a large part of Southeast Europe , a region with a history of ethnic conflict. The important elements that fostered the discord involved contemporary and historical factors, including

4060-603: The Albanian Coalition from Preševo Valley has gained representation in the National Assembly of Serbia where it holds two seats. In 2009, Serbia opened a military base - Cepotina - 5 kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area. On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania , Bujar Nishani , made a historical visit to the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac, in which Albanians form

4200-538: The Albanian-speaking territories. The festival was first organized in 1994. There are some natural heritage sites in Preševa Valley like: ( Shpella e Ilincës ), ( Shpella e Arushës ), ( Trungu i Çarrit ), ( Burimi i ujit në Banjke ), ( Ujëndarësi i Preshevës ). There has been some criticism, and Arsim Ejupi in his work Kërkime Gjeografike from 2013, claims that until now there were no activities regarding

4340-662: The Allied victory in World War II , Yugoslavia was set up as a federation of six republics, with borders drawn along ethnic and historical lines: Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Macedonia , Montenegro , Serbia , and Slovenia . In addition, two autonomous provinces were established within Serbia: Vojvodina and Kosovo . Each of the republics had its own branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia party and

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4480-543: The Assembly of Kosovo Rexhep Selimi and Nait Hasani, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK), threatened armed conflict if the institutions of Serbia removed the memorial plaque. The former U.S. diplomat, United Nations regional representative of Mitrovica Gerard Gallucci said: "Serbs, do not fall for provocations like this with the memorial plaque in Preševo". President of the National Assembly of Serbia Nebojša Stefanović explained that it

4620-478: The Croatian Spring ) and subsequent repression. The 1974 constitution was an attempt to short-circuit this pattern by entrenching the federal model and formalising national rights. The loosened control basically turned Yugoslavia into a de facto confederacy , which also placed pressure on the legitimacy of the regime within the federation. Since the late 1970s a widening gap of economic resources between

4760-708: The Hoti tribe have migrated to and live in Sandžak, mainly in the Tutin area, but also in Sjenica. In the era of trade development in the Ottoman Balkans, Albanian merchants from Shkodra, Pristina and Prizren had settled in the sanjak of Smederevo (Belgrade Pashalik). Groups of Albanians from Kosovo settled in the areas of Karanovac (today, Kraljevo ) and Ćuprija . Albanians were the most significant non-Slavic group of

4900-608: The League of Communists of Slovenia , was endorsing Kosovo and Slovene separatism. Initial strikes in Kosovo turned into widespread demonstrations calling for Kosovo to be made the seventh republic. This angered Serbia's leadership which proceeded to use police force, and later the federal army (the Yugoslav People's Army JNA) by order of the Serbian-controlled Presidency. In February 1989 ethnic Albanian Azem Vllasi , SAP Kosovo's representative on

5040-581: The Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) - was formed and began training. The Serbian media during Milošević's era was known to espouse Serb nationalism while promoting xenophobia toward the other ethnicities in Yugoslavia . Ethnic Albanians were commonly characterized in the media as anti-Yugoslav counter-revolutionaries, rapists, and a threat to the Serb nation. During

5180-537: The Morava Valley continued to head for Vranje , with the intention of then turning west and entering Kosovo proper. The Serbian advance in the southwest was slow, due to the hilly terrain and much resistance by local Albanians who were defending their villages and also sheltering in the nearby Radan and Majdan mountain ranges. Serbian forces took these villages one by one and most remained vacant. Albanian refugees continued to retreat toward Kosovo and their march

5320-635: The Principality of Serbia in 1877–78, massive and violent expulsion of Albanians occurred from the newly occupied regions in the sanjak of Niš. In the new areas (present-day Jablanica, Toplica and parts of Nišava District ) an estimated 50,000–60,000 Albanians were expelled and settled mainly in Kosovo. Between the Ottoman-Serbian armistice and the final act of the Congress of Berlin , some Albanian groups had returned to their homes. After

5460-515: The SANU Memorandum as "nothing else but the darkest nationalism". However, Kosovo's autonomy had always been an unpopular policy in Serbia, and he took advantage of the situation and made a departure from traditional communist neutrality on the issue of Kosovo. Milošević assured Serbs that their mistreatment by ethnic Albanians would be stopped. He then began a campaign against the ruling communist elite of SR Serbia, demanding reductions in

5600-569: The Socialist Republic of Serbia , SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina . Since the SFR Yugoslav federation was formed in 1945, the constituent Socialist Republic of Serbia (SR Serbia) included the two autonomous provinces of SAP Kosovo and SAP Vojvodina. With the 1974 constitution, the influence of the central government of SR Serbia over the provinces was greatly reduced, which gave them long-sought autonomy. The government of SR Serbia

5740-496: The Toplica and Southern Morava regions (located north-east of contemporary Kosovo) since the Late Middle Ages. Albanians in the Niš region had been living there for at least 500 years prior to their expulsion, meaning that Albanians would have been present in Niš since the 1300s at the very least. By 1477, part of the Albanian Mataruge tribe lived in the kaza of Prijepolje , where they formed their own distinct community ( nahiye ) with 10 villages (katund). In Ottoman records on

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5880-435: The UÇPMB , raised an armed insurgency in the Preševo Valley , in the region mostly inhabited by Albanians, with a goal to occupy these three municipalities from Serbia and join them to the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosova . Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević , the new Serbian government suppressed the violence by 2001 and defeated the separatists. NATO troops also helped the Serbian government by ensuring that

6020-452: The Vardar Banovina . During the April War the Kingdom of Yugoslavia capitulated after 12 days of war against the Axis Powers . On April 20, Bulgaria occupied part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, including Preševo. The royal authoritarian dictatorship of Bulgaria occupied the area until September 7, 1944, when they handed the area over to Nazi Germany. The Albanian collaborationist regime along with Balli Kombëtar subsequently took over

6160-446: The "motivating causes of the disintegration in economic circumstance and its ferocious pressures". Likewise, Sabine Rutar states that, “while antagonistic representations of the ethnic-national past indeed were heavily (mis-)used during the conflict, one must be careful not to turn these forceful categories of practice into categories of historical analysis”. As President, Tito's policy was to push for rapid economic growth , and growth

6300-506: The Albanian community in the Preševo Valley largely boycotted the census in protest against the lack of progress in the implementation of Končulj Agreement. According to the census, the total number of Albanians in Serbia is 5,805. According to the 2011 census, 71.1% of all Albanians are Muslim , followed by Catholics (16.8%) and Orthodox Christians (2.6%). The remainder did not declare their religion or belong to smaller religious groups (9.5%). A few years later, independent experts estimated

6440-460: The Albanian language in the pre-Slavic era was possibly up to Drobeta-Turnu Severin on the banks of the Danube. Proto-Albanian speakers in the wider region shifted to Balkan Latin and contributed to the emergence of Proto-Romanian populations. The Torlak Slavic dialects are influenced by the features which emerged in the Albanian and Eastern Romance spoken in southeastern Serbia. Toponyms such as Arbanaška and Đjake shows an Albanian presence in

6580-404: The Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia on 23–24 September 1987. At a 1988 rally in Belgrade, Milošević made clear his perception of the situation facing SR Serbia in Yugoslavia, saying: At home and abroad, Serbia's enemies are massing against us. We say to them "We are not afraid. We will not flinch from battle". On another occasion, he privately stated: We Serbs will act in

6720-496: The Communist elites who had so mismanaged the economy by recklessly borrowing money abroad. The policies of austerity also led to uncovering much corruption on the part of the elites, most notably with the "Agrokomerc affair" of 1987, when the Agrokomerc enterprise of Bosnia turned out to be the centre of a vast nexus of corruption running all across Yugoslavia, and that the managers of Agrokomerc had issued promissory notes equivalent to almost US$ 1 billion without collateral, forcing

6860-524: The Kosovo War, Serbian forces continually discriminated against Kosovo Albanians: Throughout Kosovo, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have harassed, humiliated, and degraded Kosovo Albanian civilians through physical and verbal abuse. Policemen, soldiers, and military officers have persistently subjected Kosovo Albanians to insults, racial slurs, degrading acts, beatings, and other forms of physical mistreatment based on their racial, religious, and political identification. A survey in Serbia showed that 40% of

7000-481: The Ottoman army for the self-defense of villages against the Serbian troops. Albanian units joined the Ottoman frontline defense from Kosovo and Macedonia. The war caused the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians. More than 35,000 displaced Albanian civilians died just in the winter of 1876–1877. In the first stages (1876–1877) of the war the Ottoman army won and enacted harsh repressive measures in Serbia. The entry of Russia ( Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) in

7140-408: The Presidency, was forced to resign and was replaced by an ally of Milošević. Albanian protesters demanded that Vllasi be returned to office, and Vllasi's support for the demonstrations caused Milošević and his allies to respond stating this was a "counter-revolution against Serbia and Yugoslavia", and demanded that the federal Yugoslav government put down the striking Albanians by force. Milošević's aim

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7280-404: The Preševo valley didn't become part of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo but part of Yugoslav Serbia. This decision was influenced by the location of transport infrastructure near Preševo. In Albanian politics, Preševo continues to be called "eastern Kosovo". In 1992, the Albanian representatives in the municipalities Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac organized a referendum in which they voted for

7420-417: The Serbian "ruling class", and the minorities who were seen to benefit from government legislation. Real earnings in Yugoslavia fell by 25% from 1979 to 1985. By 1988, emigrant remittances to Yugoslavia totalled over $ 4.5 billion (USD), and by 1989 remittances were $ 6.2 billion (USD), making up over 19% of the world's total. In 1990, US policy insisted on the shock therapy austerity programme that

7560-425: The Serbian administration was undertaking a "passivation of residence of Albanians" resulting in Albanians living in Southern Serbia losing the right to vote, their property, health insurance, pension and employment. According to the committee, this measure amounted to "ethnic cleansing through administrative means". The first Albanian language school in the Preševo valley was opened in Preševo on February 7, 1945. It

7700-524: The Serbian minority were to be killed, one-third expelled, and one-third converted to Catholicism and assimilated as Croats. Conversely, Serbian Royalist Chetniks pursued their own campaign of persecution against non-Serbs in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia and Sandžak per the Moljević plan ("On Our State and Its Borders") and the orders issues by Draža Mihailović which included "[t]he cleansing of all nation understandings and fighting". Both Croats and Muslims were recruited as soldiers by

7840-410: The Serbian monarch's absolutism . The assassination and human rights abuses were subject of concern for the Human Rights League and precipitated voices of protest from intellectuals, including Albert Einstein . It was in this environment of oppression that the radical insurgent group (later fascist dictatorship) the Ustaše were formed. During World War II, the country's tensions were exploited by

7980-402: The Serbian population would not like Albanians to live in Serbia while 70% would not enter into a marriage with an Albanian individual. The same feeling exists in Albania towards Serbs. Unlike in the case of the KLA in Kosovo, western countries condemned the attacks of the UÇPMB and described them as examples of "extremism" and the use of "illegal terrorist actions" by the group. Since then,

8120-476: The Serbian state and reflected Serbia's strategic goal of expanding southwards to Macedonia and Old Serbia . In Serbian geopolitical strategy, Albanians were seen as an "undesirable and unreliable population" which had to be replaced with a "reliable" population. Orthodox Serbs, Herzegovinians and Montenegrins were invited to settle in the depopulated areas. A part of the Serb settlers came from nearby eastern Kosovo and had been driven out in interethnic violence by

8260-561: The Smederevo region, the second biggest Muslim group of the pashalik and part of its Muslim population with Muslim Serbs, Bosniaks and smaller communities. In urban areas, Albanians lived in the towns of Paraćin, Ćuprija, Aleksinac, Kruševac and Karanovac. Austrian sources that in Karanovac there were 89 Turkish and Albanian and 11 Serb households. The biggest concentration of Albanians was in Ćuprija, where contemporary Serb author Joakim Vujić recorded more "Turkish Arnauts than Serbs" in 1826. Albanian villages of Smederevo were concentrated in

8400-513: The actual number of dead was about 1 million. Of that number, 330,000 to 390,000 ethnic Serbs perished from all causes in Croatia and Bosnia. These same historians also established the deaths of 192,000 to 207,000 ethnic Croats and 86,000 to 103,000 Muslims from all affiliations and causes throughout Yugoslavia. Prior to its collapse, Yugoslavia was a regional industrial power and an economic success. From 1960 to 1980, annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 6.1 percent, medical care

8540-412: The area. Albanian refugees defended the Veternica canyon, before retreating toward the Goljak mountains. Albanians who lived nearby in the Masurica region did not resist Serbian forces and General Jovan Belimarković refused to carry out orders from Belgrade to deport them, but they were deported with other Albanians after Belimarković moved out of Masurica. As a result of the territorial expansion of

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8680-412: The area. In mid-November, the Partisans forced the Balli Kombëtar to retreat. From 1945 until 1992 Preševo was part of Socialist Republic of Serbia , within SFR Yugoslavia . In 1992, the Albanians in the area organized a referendum in which they voted that Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac should join the self-declared assembly of the Republic of Kosova . However, no major events happened until

8820-492: The attack was prevented by the KFOR and Kosovo police. On the night of 21 January, it overlapped to the Serbian enclave Goraždevac , were the monuments of the Serb victims of the NATO bombing in 1999, and the Serbian children who were shot at the Bistrica river by Albanians in 2003, desecrated and destroyed. Thousands of Preševo citizens rallied on 21 January 2013, to protest the removal of the stele dedicated to Albanian guerrillas. Serbian prime minister Ivica Dačić said that there

8960-420: The autonomous province of Kosovo was poorly developed, and per capita GDP fell from 47 percent of the Yugoslav average in the immediate post-war period to 27 percent by the 1980s. It highlighted the vast differences in the quality of life in the different republics. Economic growth was curbed due to Western trade barriers combined with the 1973 oil crisis . Yugoslavia subsequently fell into heavy IMF debt due to

9100-436: The autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina. These actions made him popular amongst Serbs and aided his rise to power in Serbia. Milošević and his allies took on an aggressive nationalist agenda of reviving SR Serbia within Yugoslavia, promising reforms and protection of all Serbs. The ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia was the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ), a composite political party made-up of eight Leagues of Communists from

9240-529: The census conducted in 2002, Albanians form nearly 90% of the municipality, and over 95% of the town. Most of the remainder of its inhabitants are Serbs , who are mainly concentrated in the settlements of Ljanik , Svinjište , Slavujevac and Cakanovac . The rest of the settlements have an absolute Albanian majority. The ethnic composition of the municipality: The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022): In December 2005,

9380-414: The census, most of them in the Preševo Valley. 61,687 were counted as permanent residents of Serbia in the final census results. Albanians in Sandžak (divided between Serbia and Montenegro) made up a considerable portion of the population of the region but today only a few villages identify as Albanian, mainly as the result of cultural assimilation and immigration. The Bulgarian foreign ministry compiled

9520-400: The communist-led, anti-fascist Partisan movement composed of members of all ethnic groups in the area, leading to the formation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . The official Yugoslav post-war estimate of victims in Yugoslavia during World War II was 1,704,000. Subsequent data gathering in the 1980s by historians Vladimir Žerjavić and Bogoljub Kočović showed that

9660-418: The contact zone between Late Proto-Albanian and Balkan Latin was located in eastern and southeastern Serbia. This area included Nish , a city in southeastern Serbia. The toponym Niš in Slavic evolved from a toponym attested in Ancient Greek as ΝΑΙΣΣΟΣ (Naissos), which achieved its present form via phonetic changes in Proto-Albanian and thereafter entered Slavic. This indicates that Proto-Albanians lived in

9800-429: The controversial SANU Memorandum protesting against the weakening of the Serbian central government. The problems in the Serbian Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and Albanians grew exponentially. This, coupled with economic problems in Kosovo and Serbia as a whole, led to even greater Serbian resentment of the 1974 Constitution . Kosovo Albanians started to demand that Kosovo be granted

9940-495: The council of the League of Communists, as a means to induce the other members to realize that enormous support was on his side in putting down the Albanian strike in Kosovo. Serbian parliament speaker Borisav Jović , a strong ally of Milošević, met with the current President of the Yugoslav Presidency, Bosnian representative Raif Dizdarević , and demanded that the federal government concede to Serbian demands. Dizdarević argued with Jović saying that "You [Serbian politicians] organized

10080-849: The country in line with the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe . The League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolved in January 1990 along federal lines. Republican communist organisations became the separate socialist parties. During 1990, the socialists (former communists) lost power to ethnic separatist parties in the first multi-party elections held across the country, except in Montenegro and in Serbia , where Milošević and his allies won. Nationalist rhetoric on all sides became increasingly heated. Between June 1991 and April 1992, four constituent republics declared independence while Montenegro and Serbia remained federated. Germany took

10220-474: The country's leaderships' decision to enforce a policy of full employment ), and ethno-religious tensions. Yugoslavia's non-aligned status resulted in access to loans from both superpower blocs. This contact with the United States and the West opened up Yugoslavia's markets sooner than the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. The 1980s were a decade of Western economic ministrations. A decade of frugality resulted in growing frustration and resentment against both

10360-497: The developed and underdeveloped regions of Yugoslavia severely deteriorated the federation's unity. The most developed republics, Croatia and Slovenia, rejected attempts to limit their autonomy as provided in the 1974 Constitution. Public opinion in Slovenia in 1987 saw better economic opportunity in independence from Yugoslavia than within it. There were also places that saw no economic benefit from being in Yugoslavia; for example,

10500-681: The early 18th century were converted to Islam in that period. Their descendants make up the large majority of the population of Tutin and the Pešter plateau . Breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart, but the unresolved issues caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav Wars . The wars primarily affected Bosnia and Herzegovina , neighbouring parts of Croatia and, some years later, Kosovo . Following

10640-545: The end of the 1990s. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, a total of 161 depleted uranium bullets have been recovered in Reljan near Preševo in southern Serbia. The Serbian government has funded the cleanup operation of the Reljan site with 350,000 euros. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia , and nearby Kosovo War which lasted until 1999, between 1999 and 2001, an ethnic Albanian paramilitary separatist organization,

10780-485: The ethnic majority. On 26 November 2017, the President of Albania Ilir Meta made a historical visit to Medveđa, municipality with Albanian ethnic minority. On 26 November 2019, an earthquake struck Albania . Albanians of the Preševo valley donated aid and sent it through several convoys to earthquake victims. In 2021 the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia released a report which stated that

10920-594: The example of a communist country outside of the Eastern Bloc was no longer needed by the West as a way of destabilising the Soviet bloc. The external status quo, which the Communist Party had depended upon to remain viable, was thus beginning to disappear. Furthermore, the failure of communism all over Central and Eastern Europe once again brought to the surface Yugoslavia's inner contradictions, economic inefficiencies (such as chronic lack of productivity, fuelled by

11060-493: The expulsion of Mulims - most of whom were Albanians - from western Serbia. The residences of these population were burnt and they were moved to Ottoman lands. Albanians in the territories which were included in the Kingdom of Serbia after 1912 were concentrated in three regions: Kosovo, Sanjak of Novi Pazar and the Sanjak of Niš . Albanians were the majority of the population of Toplica (including Kuršumlija and Prokuplje ),

11200-485: The federal level across Yugoslavia, which were seen as an obstacle for Serb interests. In 1987, Slobodan Milošević came to power in Serbia, and through a series of populist moves acquired de facto control over Kosovo, Vojvodina, and Montenegro, garnering a high level of support among Serbs for his centralist policies. Milošević was met with opposition by party leaders of the western constituent republics of Slovenia and Croatia, who also advocated greater democratisation of

11340-568: The first, monarchist Yugoslavia 's multi-ethnic make-up and relative political and demographic domination of the Serbs. Fundamental to the tensions were the different concepts of the new state. The Croats and Slovenes envisaged a federal model where they would enjoy greater autonomy than they had as a separate crown land under Austria-Hungary . Under Austria-Hungary, both Slovenes and Croats enjoyed autonomy with free hands only in education, law, religion, and 45% of taxes. The Serbs tended to view

11480-458: The formation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , the first breakup and subsequent inter-ethnic and political wars and genocide during World War II , ideas of Greater Albania , Greater Croatia and Greater Serbia and conflicting views about Pan-Slavism , and the unilateral recognition by a newly reunited Germany of the breakaway republics. Before World War II , major tensions arose from

11620-499: The identity of the Albanians in the region and announced that it would end the cooperation with national authorities of Serbia if the monument were removed. Serbian Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vučić announced that they will act in frame of the law in connection with the controversial stele, and that no one can act against the for all the same applicable constitution and seeks the reason in ethnicity . He added that Serbia wants peace but will respond to any provocation. Deputies of

11760-531: The initiative and recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia, but the status of ethnic Serbs outside Serbia and Montenegro, and that of ethnic Croats outside Croatia, remained unsolved. After a string of inter-ethnic incidents, the Yugoslav Wars ensued, first in Croatia and then, most severely, in multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina . The wars left economic and political damage in the region that

11900-558: The interest of Serbia whether we do it in compliance with the constitution or not, whether we do it in compliance in the law or not, whether we do it in compliance with party statutes or not. The Anti-bureaucratic revolution was a series of protests in Serbia and Montenegro orchestrated by Milošević to put his supporters in SAP Vojvodina, SAP Kosovo, and the Socialist Republic of Montenegro (SR Montenegro) to power as he sought to oust his rivals. The government of Montenegro survived

12040-549: The international institutions to stop this action", even though the U.S. had already announced earlier that it is an internal affair of Serbia, which should solve their elected representatives. On the evening of 20 January, a group of Albanians who protested against the removal of the stele gathered in Gjakova . Some of them tried forcibly to enter in the Serbian monastery of the Holy Virgin , where several nuns still live, but

12180-460: The joining of these municipalities to the self-declared assembly of the Republic of Kosova . However, no major events happened until the end of the 1990s. Following the establishment of the Republic of Kosova, ethnic Albanians created the Kosovo Liberation Army which began attacking police forces and secret-service officials which abused Albanian civilians in 1995. From 1998 onwards, the group

12320-623: The large number of International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans taken out by the regime. As a condition of receiving loans, the IMF demanded the " market liberalisation " of Yugoslavia. By 1981, Yugoslavia had incurred $ 19.9 billion in foreign debt. Another concern was the level of unemployment, at 1 million by 1980. This problem was compounded by the general "unproductiveness of the South", which not only added to Yugoslavia's economic woes, but also irritated Slovenia and Croatia further. The SFR Yugoslavia

12460-489: The leader of the Albanian Democratic party (PDSH) Ragmi Mustafa became the president of the municipality. He was re-elected several times and served as the president of the municipality until 2016. On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania Bujar Nishani made a historical visit to the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority. Three days later, Ardita Sinani became

12600-472: The majority of population (93.7% in Preševo and 62% in Bujanovac according to the 2022 census). In the municipality of Medveđa , Albanians are second largest ethnic group (after Serbs ), and their participation in this municipality was 32% in 1981 census, 28.67% in 1991 and 26.17% in 2002. The region of Bujanovac and Preševo is widely known as the Preševo Valley (Serbian: Прешевска Долина, Preševska Dolina , Albanian: Lugina e Preshevës ). In late antiquity,

12740-421: The mid-1980s increasingly started to corrode the legitimacy of the Communist system, as ordinary people started to lose faith in the competence and honesty of the elites. A wave of major strikes developed in 1987–88 as workers demanded higher wages to compensate for inflation, as the IMF mandated the end of various subsidies , and they were accompanied by denunciations of the entire system as corrupt. Finally,

12880-443: The more prosperous republics of SR Slovenia and SR Croatia wanted to move towards decentralization and democracy. The historian Basil Davidson contends that the "recourse to 'ethnicity' as an explanation [of the conflict] is pseudo-scientific nonsense". Even the degree of linguistic and religious differences "have been less substantial than instant commentators routinely tell us". Davidson agrees with Susan Woodward , who found

13020-438: The muhaxhirs who had settled just across the new border. The large depopulation and economic devaluation of the new territories couldn't be balanced by any means so the Serbian government attempted to attract some of the Albanians who had been expelled to settle again in Serbia. Milan Obrenović , future King of Serbia since 1882, struck a deal directly with Shahid Pasha, a local Albanian military officer from Jablanica. Shahid Pasha

13160-467: The next target for a political coup by Milošević's supporters if the coup in Kosovo went unimpeded. Serbian state-run television denounced Kučan as a separatist, a traitor, and an endorser of Albanian separatism. Serb protests continued in Belgrade demanding action in Kosovo. Milošević instructed communist representative Petar Gračanin to make sure the protest continued while he discussed matters at

13300-475: The number is 1,252. During the 2022 census, the Helsinki Committee of Serbia declared that the passivization of residences of Albanians could be used as a means to not allow them to register in the census and as a consequence the census could serve as "a mechanism for the disenfranchisement of Albanians in southern Serbia". About 100,000 Albanians in total were recorded in the preliminary results of

13440-532: The occupying Axis forces which established a Croat puppet state spanning much of present-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina . The Axis powers installed the Ustaše as the leaders of the Independent State of Croatia . The Ustaše resolved that the Serbian minority were a fifth column of Serbian expansionism and pursued a policy of persecution against the Serbs. The policy dictated that one-third of

13580-514: The pashalik was engulfed by the uprising of Dervish Cara against Huseyin Pasha of Vranje. After the Tanzimat reforms, the local authorities exploited the situation in order to impose heavier taxation and abuse their authority even more against the majority of the population, which were peasant farmers. One particular event which aggravated even more the relations between the locals and Huseyin Pasha

13720-403: The politics of austerity brought to the fore tensions between the well off "have" republics like Slovenia and Croatia versus the poorer "have not" republics like Serbia. Both Croatia and Slovenia felt that they were paying too much money into the federal budget to support the "have not" republics, while Serbia wanted Croatia and Slovenia to pay more money into the federal budget to support them at

13860-552: The population of Kosovo in the 1980s, ethnic-Albanians were the majority. In June 1989, the 600th anniversary of Serbia's historic defeat at the field of Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević gave the Gazimestan speech to 200,000 Serbs, with a Serb nationalist theme which deliberately evoked medieval Serbian history . Milošević's answer to the incompetence of the federal system was to centralise the government. Considering Slovenia and Croatia were looking farther ahead to independence, this

14000-517: The population of the region was mostly Roman Catholic . There are still Catholic churches in the Karadak villages, located in Kosovo today. Albanians boycotted the 1991 census in Serbia and Kosovo. In 2002, they took part in the census according to the Končulj Agreement which terminated the insurgency in the Preševo Valley. The 2002 census counted 61,647 Albanians in Serbia. In the 2011 census,

14140-447: The population were Muslims and 35% Serbian Orthodox. The majority of the Muslim population were Albanians. In the 21st century, there still is a small community which identifies as Albanian in the Pešter region of Sandžak living in villages such as Boroštica, Doliće and Ugao. For the past two generations these villages have opted to declare themselves "Bosniak" in the national census. This partial bosniakicisation and abandonment of

14280-584: The president of the municipality of Preševo, following the resignation of Shqiprim Arifi due to the termination of the municipal coalition. On 21 November 2012, the municipality council of Preševo erected a stele in the center of the town honouring members of the former UÇPMB, who died during the Preševo Valley Conflict from 1999 to 2001, causing a public outcry throughout Serbia. The Prime Minister of Serbia , Ivica Dačić , said about this incident: "It's best that they remove it themselves, because this

14420-407: The protection and management of this natural heritage sites, and that this situation is a result of lack of capacities in local government and NGOs regarding the professional treatment of environmental issues. He considers that only with active participation of these actors it can be realized protection and sustainable management of natural heritage in Preševo Valley and the development of ecotourism in

14560-659: The rebellion. Local Albanians were led by Sulejman Tola of Veliki Trnovac/Tërrnoc, Selman Rogaçica, Ymer Aga of Presheva and Dervish Cara. The decisive battle which the Ottomans won and ended the rebellion took place on the Somolica hill between Preševo and Bujanovac. The sanjak of Niš became the subject of territorial dispute in Serbian-Ottoman War (1876–1878). In the war Albanians from Kuršumlja, Prokuplje and Leskovac formed units which operated independently from

14700-485: The rebels do not import the conflicts back into Kosovo. In 2009, Serbia opened a military base Cepotina 5 kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area. Today, Preševo is located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania Bujar Nishani made a visit to the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority. Aside from

14840-522: The region in pre-Slavic times. When this settlement happened is a matter of debate, as Proto-Albanians might have moved relatively late in antiquity in the area which might have been an eastern expansion of Proto-Albanian settlement as no other toponyms known in antiquity in the immediate area presuppose an Albanian development. The development of Nish < Naiss- may also represent a regional development in late antiquity Balkans which while related may not be identical with Albanian. The potential spread of

14980-1526: The region of Preševo Valley. према повељи манастиру богоро- дичимог ваведења у Архиљевици,50 држао као своју баштину пространу област иеточно од Скопске Црне Горе. Она је обухватала старе жупе Прешево и Жеглигово (данас кумановски крај са Средореком, Козјачијом... У повељи манастиру Архиљевици, издатој ав- густа 1355. године, Душан на три места каже: "Брат царства ми севастократор Дејан". Именица брат има вишеструко значење. Најодређеније је оно примарно: рођени брат. Дејанова баштина — жупе Жеглигово и Прешево — простиру се између Пчиње, Јужне Мораве и Скопске Црне горе. Источно од Жеглигова и Прешева, око горњег тока Струме са Велбуждом, простирала се "држава" севастократора Дејана ... старе жупе Жеглигово (са данашњом Козјачијом, Средореком и највећим делом Пчиње) на истоку и Прешево са једним делом Гњиланског Карадага на западу. Оно се није ограничавало само на кумановски крај — Жеглигово — ... Синови деспота Дејана заједнички су управљали пространом облашћу у источној Македонији, мада је исправе чешће потписивао старији, Јован Драгаш. Као и његов отац, Јован Драгаш је носио знаке деспотског достојанства. Иако се као деспот помиње први пут 1373, сасвим је извесно да је Јован Драгаш ову титулу добио од цара Уроша. Високо достојанство убрајало се, како је ... Albanians in Serbia Albanians in Serbia ( Serbian : Албанци у Србији , romanized :  Albanci u Srbiji ; Albanian : Shqiptarët në Serbi ) are

15120-522: The region. Many journalists who including Leon Trotsky , Leo Freundlich observed and recorded the events. Danish journalist Fritz Magnussen recorded the slaughter of 5,000 Albanians near Pristina. In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , Albanians were divided in three banovinas (counties): Vardar Banovina , Zeta Banovina and Morava Banovina since 1929. The Albanians of modern-day southern Serbia were within Vardar Macedonia. In Titoist Yugoslavia,

15260-477: The regions of Toplica , Kruševac and Leskovac (today located in southern Serbia) that date between 1444 and 1446, a village by the name of Tanuš (derived from the Albanian anthroponym Tanush ) appears. In the region of Toplica specifically, several settlements of Albanian toponomy were recorded during the first half of the 15th century, such as Gonzi , Castrat , Spanzi , Zur , Katun and Kriva Feja . All of these settlements are indeed older than and predate

15400-452: The republics and autonomous provinces. Tito's death would show that such short terms were highly ineffective. Essentially it left a power vacuum which was left open for most of the 1980s. In their book Free to Choose (1980), Milton Friedman and his wife Rose Friedman foretold: "Once the aged Marshal Tito dies, Yugoslavia will experience political instability that may produce a reaction toward greater authoritarianism or, far less likely,

15540-634: The self-designation Albanian has been attributed to a strategy by the villagers to avoid ethnic violence by Serbian para-military groups in the Yugoslavs wars and partially due to intermarriage with the surrounding Bosniak population. As such and also due to the Yugoslav wars and thereafter, they have opted to declare themselves in censuses as " Muslims " and "Bosniaks" instead of as Albanians to avoid problems. Elders in these villages are still fluent in Albanian. Catholic Albanian groups which settled in

15680-471: The six republics and two autonomous provinces. The League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) governed SR Serbia. Riding the wave of nationalist sentiment and his new popularity gained in Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević (Chairman of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) since May 1986) became the most powerful politician in Serbia by defeating his former mentor President of Serbia Ivan Stambolic at the 8th session of

15820-461: The size of their population to ca. 75,000. Albanian community leaders claim that there about 25,000 more Albanians from Serbia. Belgrade , capital of Serbia, has a small Albanian community. In the census of 1981, 8,212 Albanians were registered. In 1991 there lived only 4,985 Albanians in Belgrade. After the Kosovo War , this number decreased to 1,492, and according to the latest census (2011),

15960-534: The south and east of the region. In the first decades of the Principality of Serbia , which included modern-day central and eastern Serbia, the population was about 85% Serb and 15% non-Serb. Of those, most were Vlachs, and there were some Muslim Albanians, which were the overwhelming majority of the Muslims that lived in Smederevo , Kladovo and Ćuprija . The new state aimed to homogenize of its population. As

16100-486: The state to assume responsibility for their debts when Agrokomerc finally collapsed. The rampant corruption in Yugoslavia, of which the "Agrokomerc affair" was merely the most dramatic example, did much to discredit the Communist system, as it was revealed that the elites were living luxurious lifestyles, well beyond the means of ordinary people, with money stolen from the public purse during a time of austerity. The problems imposed by heavy indebtedness and corruption had by

16240-411: The status of a constituent republic beginning in the early 1980s, particularly with the 1981 protests in Kosovo . This was seen by the Serbian public as a devastating blow to Serb pride because of the historic links that Serbians held with Kosovo. It was viewed that that secession would be devastating to Kosovar Serbs. This eventually led to the repression of the Albanian majority in Kosovo. Meanwhile,

16380-510: The stele would not be removed. However, the stele was removed by a bulldozer which was guarded by members of the Serbian Gendarmery on 20 January 2013. Despite threats from various Albanian nationalist organizations, there were no incidents during and after the removal. As a first reaction, the former commander of UÇPMB, Orhan Rexhepi, made the separatist statement that this is a "historic day", because "Preševo and Bujanovac will be

16520-483: The support of the international community. He also warned against the exploitation of the situation by the Albanians. The operation of the Serbian police broke into the local population from turmoil. During the day, several hundred people gathered at the site of the stele laid flowers and candles in memory of the fallen UÇPMB members. The Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha announced that "the Albanian government calls

16660-601: The territories as a just reward for their support of the allies in World War ;I and the new state as an extension of the Kingdom of Serbia . Tensions between the Croats and Serbs often erupted into open conflict, with the Serb-dominated security structure exercising oppression during elections and the assassination in the National Assembly of Croat political leaders, including Stjepan Radić , who opposed

16800-752: The territory, on all sides, but chiefly towards the south. Ottoman sources report that in 1373, the Ottoman army compelled Jovan (who they called Saruyar ) in the upper Struma, to recognize Ottoman vassalage. As Prince Marko had done, also the Dejanović brothers recognized Ottoman sovereignty. Although vassals, they had their own government. In the Wallachian victory at the Battle of Rovine (17 May 1395), both Marko and Konstantin died. The provinces of Marko and Konstantin became Ottoman. From 1877 to 1913 Preševo

16940-586: The time of their recording during the first half of the 15th century. In 1700, after the Great Serb Migration , the Kelmendi and Kuçi and other tribes like the Shkreli of Rugova established themselves in the region of Rožaje and the neighboring town of Tutin, Serbia . The Shala , Krasniqi , and Gashi also moved in the region. Starting in the 18th century many people originating from

17080-401: The town of Preševo, the municipality includes the following settlements: According to the 2002 census results, the municipality of Preševo has 34,904 inhabitants. The 2011 census was largely boycotted by the majority (Albanians) of the municipality. As a result, only 3,080 were inhabitants were registered. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 33,449 inhabitants. According to

17220-435: The treaty of Berlin was signed, they were expelled to Turkey. In total, around 600 Albanian villages were ethnically cleansed . Albanians who settled in Kosovo and other regions became known as muhaxhirs (refugees). The events of 1877-78 marked the beginning of the modern Serbian-Albanian conflict . The expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Albanians from southern Serbia was the result of a policy of ethnic homogenization of

17360-475: The war changed the situation and the Ottomans shifted their forces towards the eastern front. The Ottoman defeat in the Siege of Plevna (December 1877) secured Russian victory in the war and the Ottoman army retreated on all fronts. Ottoman forces surrendered Niš on 10 January 1878 and Serbian forces continued their southwest advance entering the valleys of Kosanica , Pusta Reka and Jablanica . Serbian forces in

17500-717: The weakening of the Communist states in Eastern Europe towards the end of the Cold War , leading to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In Yugoslavia, the national communist party, officially called the League of Communists of Yugoslavia , had lost its ideological base. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) contributed significantly to the rise of nationalist sentiments, as it drafted

17640-556: Was a colossal sum for a poor country. In 1984, the Reagan administration issued a classified document, National Security Decision Directive 133, expressing concern that Yugoslavia's debt load might cause the country to align with the Soviet bloc. The 1980s were a time of economic austerity as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed stringent conditions on Yugoslavia, which caused much resentment toward

17780-540: Was a conglomeration of eight federated entities, roughly divided along ethnic lines, including six republics: Two autonomous provinces within Serbia: With the 1974 Constitution , the office of President of Yugoslavia was replaced with the Yugoslav Presidency , an eight-member collective head-of-state composed of representatives from six republics and, controversially, two autonomous provinces of

17920-445: Was aided when a huge protest was formed outside of the Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade by Serb supporters of Milošević who demanded that the Yugoslav military forces make their presence stronger in Kosovo to protect the Serbs there and put down the strike. On 27 February, SR Slovene representative in the collective presidency of Yugoslavia, Milan Kučan , opposed the demands of the Serbs and left Belgrade for SR Slovenia where he attended

18060-527: Was commander of the Ottoman barracks of Sofia in the 1877–78 war. Under the agreement, some Muslim Albanians returned to Gornja Jablanica ( Medveđa ). During the Balkan wars , the Kosovo Vilayet and Sandžak became part of Serbia. Tens of thousands of Albanian civilians were massacred and expelled from the newly conquered territories. In Novi Pazar, General Petar Živković targeted the Albanians of

18200-557: Was considered unacceptable. Meanwhile, the Socialist Republic of Croatia (SR Croatia) and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia (SR Slovenia), supported the Albanian miners and their struggle for recognition. Media in SR Slovenia published articles comparing Milošević to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini . Milošević contended that such criticism was unfounded and amounted to "spreading fear of Serbia". Milošević's state-run media claimed in response that Milan Kučan , head of

18340-482: Was free, literacy was 91 percent, and life expectancy was 72 years. Prior to 1991, Yugoslavia's armed forces were amongst the best-equipped in Europe. Yugoslavia was a unique state, straddling both the East and West. Moreover, its president, Josip Broz Tito , was one of the fundamental founders of the " third world " or " group of 77 " which acted as an alternative to the superpowers. More importantly, Yugoslavia acted as

18480-578: Was halted at the Goljak Mountains when an armistice was declared. The Serbian army operating in the Morava Valley continued south toward two canyons: Grdelica (between Vranje and Leskovac ) and Veternica (southwest of Grdelica). After Grdelica was taken, Serbian forces took Vranje . Local Albanians had left with their belongings prior to Serbian forces reaching the town, and other countryside Albanians experienced tensions with Serbian neighbours who fought against and eventually evicted them from

18620-427: Was indeed high in the 1970s. However, the over-expansion of the economy caused inflation and pushed Yugoslavia into economic recession . A major problem for Yugoslavia was the heavy debt incurred in the 1970s, which proved to be difficult to repay in the 1980s. Yugoslavia's debt load, initially estimated at a sum equal to $ 6 billion U.S. dollars, instead turned out to be equivalent to $ 21 billion U.S. dollars, which

18760-615: Was involved in open conflict with an increasing number of Yugoslav security forces, and the escalating tensions eventually led to the Kosovo War in February 1998. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia and the conclusion of the Kosovo War, a 5-kilometre-wide Ground Safety Zone was created, serving as a buffer zone between the Yugoslav Army and the Kosovo Force . In June 1999, a new Albanian militant insurgent group -

18900-454: Was left unable to cope with rising economic and political challenges. In the 1980s, Kosovo Albanians started to demand that their autonomous province be granted the status of a full constituent republic, starting with the 1981 protests . Ethnic tensions between Albanians and Kosovo Serbs remained high over the whole decade, which resulted in the growth of Serb opposition to the high autonomy of provinces and ineffective system of consensus at

19040-464: Was meted out to the ex- Comecon countries. Such a programme had been advocated by the IMF and other organisations "as a condition for fresh injections of capital." In 1987, Serbian official Slobodan Milošević was sent to bring calm to an ethnically driven protest by Serbs against the Albanian administration of SAP Kosovo. Milošević had been, up to this point, a hard-line communist who had decried all forms of nationalism as treachery, such as condemning

19180-562: Was no reason for any kind of protests, the illicit stele was not destroyed, nor was violence used. He added that " I doubt that in the United States, Al-Qaeda veterans, or those who have carried out several terrorist attacks in London or Paris, would decide whether a memorial stele should be built. " The Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha announced during a press conference in Tirana , that Albania would review its relations with Serbia, if that

19320-429: Was opened by Abdulla Krashnica, local anti-fascist partisan. The first secondary school was opened in 1948. Before the 2001 rebellion, no Albanian-language media were allowed in the Preševo valley. The first Albanian-language channel was allowed after the Končulj Agreement (2001). In 2003, the state TV channel of Preševo began to broadcast in Albanian. Another regional state channel in Bujanovac broadcasts 8 hours (out of

19460-527: Was part of Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. According to the statistics of the Bulgarian ethnographer Vasil Kanchov from 1900 the settlement is recorded as Prešovo as having 2000 inhabitants, all Albanian Muslims . Following the First Balkan War in 1912, Kingdom of Serbia conquered the area. Kingdom of Yugoslavia was formed after World War I. From 1929 to 1941 Preševo was part of

19600-483: Was restricted in making and carrying out decisions that would apply to the provinces. The provinces had a vote in the Yugoslav Presidency, which was not always cast in favor of SR Serbia. In Serbia, there was great resentment towards these developments, which the nationalist elements of the public saw as the "division of Serbia". The 1974 constitution not only exacerbated Serbian fears of a "weak Serbia, for

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