Preševo Valley

Preševo Valley
  • Прешевска долина/Preševska dolina
  • Lugina e Preshevës
Geographical region1
Preševo Valley
Preševo Valley (Preševo and Bujanovac are marked in red, while Medvedja is marked in blue)
Country Serbia
Largest city Preševo
Area
 • Total 725 km2 (280 sq mi)
Population
 • Estimate (2011) 67,900
 • Density 93.6/km2 (242/sq mi)
^ "Preševo Valley" is not an official subdivision of the Serbia. Preševo valley is a geographical region.


The Preševo Valley (Serbian: Прешевска долина / Preševska dolina, Albanian: Lugina e Preshevës) is a region in southern Serbia composed of the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo (sometimes Medveđa municipality is included in Preševo Valley).[1] Geopolitically, the region is the center of the Albanian community in Serbia with Albanians comprising 89% of Preševo and 54.6% of Bujanovac.[2]

Terminology

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, which makes reference to the Kosovo Vilayet, from which this area was incorporated into Serbia in 1913.[2] Because of Albanian demands for territorial autonomy, the use of "Preševo Valley" is somewhat politically loaded. In Serbian official statements, the area is usually referred to as the "territory of municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa".

View of Preševo, the largest town of the region

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 South Morava at Bujanovac. It is part of the Morava/Vardar North-South route across the Balkans, which follows the flows of Great Morava and South Morava through Serbia. This route carries the pan-European corridor X and E75. The importance of this route to Serbia has increased since 1999, when the main alternative route, through Pristina, became unusable due to the Kosovo War and subsequent loss of Serbian control over Kosovo.

History

In 1938, during the colonisation of Kosovo, Preševo was designated in the Turkish-Yugoslav Convention as one of the areas whose population would be forced to migrate to Turkey.[3]

The Yugoslav communist government, seeking to maintain 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 6–8,000 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 Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), known as the Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Preshevës, Medvegjës dhe Bujanocit, UÇPMB). The aim of UÇPM was to take full control of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa and hold them until such time as the adjacent lands, Kosovo and western Macedonia, also came under Albanian control. This should have been followed by the gradual opening of the borders. Lacking the attention of the international media, the incidents paused as the activities spread south of the border into Macedonia from where the twin organization National Liberation Army, engaged in a war against Macedonian authorities. The Presevo valley conflict ended after international intervention that led to peace treaty, which demilitarise the area, amnestied UÇPMB and granted to the Yugoslav army entry to the region under NATO's approval.[5]

In September 2007, Boris Tadić 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]

Demographics

Preševo Valley consists of two municipalities, Preševo and Bujanovac. The 2002 census recorded 34,904 people in Preševo 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. Albanians are majority both in Preševo and Bujanovac, while the Serbs are second biggest ethnic group. In 2002 Medveđa had 10,760 citizens (2,816 Albanians).

Municipality Area in km² Population (2002)
Preševo 264 34,904
Bujanovac 461 43,302
Medveđa* 524 10,760
Total 1,249 88,966

Politics

The Albanians of the area are represented politically by the Party for Democratic Action, which won two seats in the 2014 Parliamentary election. Other parties boycotted the elections, citing deep discontent over Belgrade's treatment of the Albanian minority as one of the main reasons. As a result, the National Assembly of Serbia has only two ethnic Albanians.[7]

Representatives from the municipalities of Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa have adopted a declaration asking for the formation of the "Preševo Valley region" in early August 2009.[8] Milan Marković, the President of the Coordinating Body for Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa stated that such demands will not solve any problems.[9]

The region is often mentioned in connection with political negotiations of the Kosovo status process. Albanian leaders from the Valley wanted to participate in the talks but were not allowed. A territorial exchange between Serbia and Kosovo involving the Valley and North Kosovo is an often-mentioned topic in media and informal "probe" statements, but all sides in the official process so far rejected any prospect of a border change.[10] A Chinese scholar proposed another territory exchange: the Serb enclaves south of the Ibar River with Preševo Valley.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Palka, Eugene Joseph; Galgano, Francis Anthony (March 2005). Military geography: from peace to war. McGraw Hill Custom Publishing. p. 301. ISBN 9780073536071. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Judah, Tim (2008-09-29). Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780195376739. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Elsie, Robert (1997). Kosovo: in the heart of the powder keg. East European Monographs. p. 491. ISBN 9780880333757. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  4. ↑ Krieger, Heike (2001-07-12). The Kosovo Conflict and International Law: An Analytical Documentation 1974-1999. Cambridge University Press. p. 78. ISBN 9780521800716. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  5. ↑ Ristic, Marija (11 Jan 2013). "Controversial Albanian Monument Dispute Hits Deadlock". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Tadic says terrorists undergo training in northern Macedonia
  7. ↑ Only one Albanian party to run in Serbia election Balkan Insight, February 12, 2014
  8. ↑ Preševska dolina kao region B92, August 2, 2009, Source: FoNet
  9. ↑ Marković o zahtevima s juga Srbije B92, August 3, 2009, Source: B92, Tanjug
  10. ↑ Belgzim Kamberi, Faruk Daliu (2005-11-16), Presevo Valley Albanians Demand Place at Kosovo Talks, BIRN
  11. ↑ The Fourth Plan to Solve the Crisis of North Kosovo 2011-12-01.Retrieved 2013-07-14.

Coordinates: 42°18′N 21°38′E / 42.300°N 21.633°E / 42.300; 21.633

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