Preševo ( Serbian Cyrillic : Прешево , pronounced [prêʃeʋə] ; Albanian : Preshevë , Albanian pronunciation: [preʃevə] ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia . As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 33,449 inhabitants. It is the southernmost town in Central Serbia and largest in the geographical region of Preševo Valley .
92-667: 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
184-698: 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
276-487: 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,
368-557: 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
460-726: 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
552-779: 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
644-570: 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
736-606: 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 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
828-530: 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
920-639: 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
1012-463: 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
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#17327800123721104-457: 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
1196-402: 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
1288-590: 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
1380-640: 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 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
1472-538: 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
1564-665: 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
1656-660: 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
1748-624: 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 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
1840-515: 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
1932-543: 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
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#17327800123722024-631: 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
2116-528: 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 the initiative and recognized the independence of Croatia and Slovenia, but
2208-446: 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
2300-571: 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, 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
2392-568: 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 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
2484-959: 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 the Adriatic Sea , stretching southward from the Bay of Trieste in Central Europe to
2576-581: 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
2668-611: 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
2760-470: 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 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
2852-841: 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 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
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2944-467: 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
3036-547: 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 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
3128-417: 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
3220-505: 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 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
3312-517: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.132 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 942415343 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:46:52 GMT 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
3404-551: The aged Marshal Tito dies, Yugoslavia will experience political instability that may produce a reaction toward greater authoritarianism or, far less likely, 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
3496-706: 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
3588-700: 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
3680-436: 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
3772-529: 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,
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3864-524: 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
3956-566: 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
4048-525: 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
4140-545: 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,
4232-481: 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
4324-493: 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 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
4416-424: 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 the Croatian Spring ) and subsequent repression. The 1974 constitution was an attempt to short-circuit this pattern by entrenching
4508-406: The high autonomy of provinces and ineffective system of consensus at 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
4600-499: 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
4692-495: 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
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#17327800123724784-436: 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
4876-418: 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
4968-484: 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 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
5060-421: 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,
5152-443: 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
5244-618: 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 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
5336-411: 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
5428-403: 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
5520-494: 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
5612-519: 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
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#17327800123725704-407: 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
5796-428: 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
5888-1366: 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 Too Many Requests If you report this error to
5980-455: The republics had its own branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia party and 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,
6072-418: 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
6164-486: 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
6256-411: 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,
6348-410: 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 is still felt decades later. On April 27, 1992, the Federal Council of
6440-442: 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
6532-428: 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
6624-752: 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
6716-401: 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
6808-454: 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 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
6900-447: The unilateral recognition by a newly reunited Germany of the breakaway republics. Before World War II , major tensions arose from 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
6992-725: 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 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
7084-426: The weakened system of federal government 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
7176-537: Was 1,704,000. Subsequent data gathering in the 1980s by historians Vladimir Žerjavić and Bogoljub Kočović showed that 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
7268-609: 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
7360-470: 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 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 ,
7452-445: 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
7544-736: Was connected with 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
7636-557: 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
7728-418: 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 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
7820-562: 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 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
7912-427: 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
8004-597: Was met with opposition by party leaders of the western constituent republics of Slovenia and Croatia, who also advocated greater democratisation of 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
8096-464: 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
8188-562: 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
8280-587: 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 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
8372-591: 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
8464-527: 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 was a conglomeration of eight federated entities, roughly divided along ethnic lines, including six republics: Two autonomous provinces within Serbia: With
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