Preševo Valley
Preševo Valley
Прешевска долина Preševska dolina Lugina e Preshevës | |
---|---|
![]() Preševo Valley (Preševo and Bujanovac are marked in red, while Medveđa is marked in blue) | |
Country | ![]() |
Largest city | Preševo |
Area | |
• Total | 1,249 km2 (482 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 80,877 |
• Density | 65/km2 (170/sq mi) |
The Preševo Valley (Serbian Cyrillic: Прешевска долина, romanized: Preševska dolina; Albanian: Lugina e Preshevës) is a geopolitical region in southern Serbia, along the border with Kosovo. The valley geographically includes municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, and politically also Medveđa. It is home to most of the Albanian community in Serbia,[1] who comprise most of the population with the rest being Serbs and Romani. As of 2022, the area has around 80,000 inhabitants.[citation needed]
Terminology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Pre%C5%A1evo.jpg/220px-Pre%C5%A1evo.jpg)
In Albanian the area is referred to as Lugina e Preshevës and in Serbian as Preševska dolina. Albanians also sometimes call the region eastern Kosovo as parts of the territory were considered part of geographical region of Kosovo until the end of World War II.
Geography
Geographically, the Preševo Valley is coterminous with the river basin of Preševska Moravica from its source near the town of Preševo to the confluence with
History
In 1938, during the
The Yugoslav communist government, seeking to maintain Serbian control over the road and rail routes that passed through the region and also control Albanian nationalists, separated this region from Kosovo and organized it into Serbia.[1][2] During the Kosovo War 6,000–8,000 ethnic Albanians left the area. They reported that they were being conscripted, and Serbian paramilitaries were trying to force them into military barracks.[4]
Preševo Valley conflict
In 2001, as a follow-up to the Kosovo War, there were clashes between Serbian security forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas linked to the
In September 2007, Boris Tadić, the president of Serbia, stated "that former and current terrorists, who recently managed to escape from prison in Kosovo, were located in northern regions of the Republic of Macedonia". According to Tadić, "terrorists are planning new attacks on municipalities in southern Serbia in order to start a new Preševo Valley conflict".[6]
In 2021 the
Demographics
In the municipalities of Bujanovac, Preševo and Medveđa, 122,147 citizens were registered, of which 96,359 were Albanians, according to the first data of the newly completed census 2022 in Serbia. Since 2002, when the municipalities in the south where Albanians predominantly lived for the last time participated in the census, the population in the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo has increased by more than 35,000 people.[citation needed]
After completing the census, the president of the National Council of Albanians, Ragmi Mustafa, wrote on His Facebook page that the census showed that there were about 100,000 Albanians in Serbia and that this was a response to the "discriminatory passivation of albanian sojourn".[citation needed]
The 2002 census recorded 34,904 people in Presevo and 43,302 in Bujanovac (78,206 total; 54,779 Albanians). Most of the Albanian population boycotted the 2011 census. Serbian government estimated that the number of inhabitants in these two municipalities is 67,900 (of which almost 70% are Albanians). Albanians are majority both in Presevo and Bujanovac, while Serbs are the second biggest ethnic group. In 2002, Medveđa had 10,760 citizens (2,816 Albanians). In 2015, after an agreement between the local institutions and the Serbian government, an international team headed by the
Municipality | Area in km2 | Population (2002) | Population (2015) |
---|---|---|---|
Preševo | 264 | 34,904 | 29,600 |
Bujanovac | 461 | 43,302 | 38,300 |
Medveđa* | 524 | 10,760 | 7,400 |
Total | 1,249 | 88,966 | 75,300 |
Politics
There are six parties which represent the Albanian minority in local and national politics. The
The region is often mentioned in connection with political negotiations of the
See also
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ ISBN 9780073536071. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780195376739. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ISBN 9780880333757. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ISBN 9780521800716. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ Ristic, Marija (11 January 2013). "Controversial Albanian Monument Dispute Hits Deadlock". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ Tadic says terrorists undergo training in northern Macedonia
- ^ "Albanian Minority on Hold: Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa as hostages of the Serbia and Kosovo relations" (PDF). helsinki.org.rs. Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia. 2021. p. 6.
- ^ Kamberi, Belgzim (2016). "(NON)IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREEMENT OF THE GOVERNMENTS RELATING TO THE SOUTH OF SERBIA" (PDF). Council for Human Rights. p. 12.
- ^ Only one Albanian party to run in Serbia election Balkan Insight, 12 February 2014
- ^ Belgzim Kamberi, Faruk Daliu (16 November 2005), Presevo Valley Albanians Demand Place at Kosovo Talks, BIRN
- ^ The Fourth Plan to Solve the Crisis of North Kosovo 1 December 2011.Retrieved 2013-07-14.