Albanians in Serbia

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Mosque in Preševo ​​/ Presheva

The Albanians in Serbia ( Albanian  Shqiptarët në Serbi , Serbian Албанци у Србији Albanci u Srbiji ) are a minority in the country. According to the census carried out in 2002, the proportion of the population who profess to be Albanians in the entire Republic of Serbia is around 0.82 percent. In numbers, that's 61,647 people. In central Serbia the proportion is 1.10 percent, which is much higher than in the autonomous province of Vojvodina with 0.08 percent.

The Albanians in Serbia have been an independent group of people in the south of the country for centuries . In some Opštini (singular Opština ; municipality) they make up the majority, such as in the southern Serbian cities of Preševo ( Albanian  Presheva ) and Bujanovac (Albanian Bujanoc ), and in others they are a significant minority, such as in Medveđa (Albanian Medvegja ). According to the 2002 census, 89.10% in Opština Preševo, 54.69% in Opština Bujanovac and 26.17% in Opština Medveđa describe themselves as Albanians. The three Opštini in the border triangle with North Macedonia and Kosovo are collectively referred to as the Preševo ​​/ Presheva Valley (Albanian Lugina e Preshevës ) and have an area of ​​1249 km².

history

Map from 1878 with the distribution areas of the Balkan peoples (published by the Imperial and Royal Geographical Society, Vienna); the Albanians are shown in green and the areas they inhabit up to the south of Niš are clearly recognizable

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the region around Niš , Kumanovo and Gjilan became part of the Kingdom of Serbia . A large Albanian population lived here, not only limited to the Preševo ​​valley, but also further north as far as Niš. Driven by nationalism and Islamophobia after the Ottoman occupation, however, the Albanians were displaced from this area to Kosovo or to those areas where they still live today. When the Republic of Albania declared itself independent in 1912, the territory assigned to it did not even include half of the area inhabited by the majority of Albanians. Kosovo and the Preševo ​​Valley remained outside these limits.

After the Kosovo War in 1999 and Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008, the number of voices calling for the Preševo ​​Valley to be connected to Kosovo increased. Referring to its western neighbor, the Preševo ​​Valley is also called Eastern Kosovo .

As a result of unemployment and poverty, many Albanians from the Presevo Valley are migrated . The destinations were Germany , Switzerland , Austria , Sweden , Denmark and the United States .

Legal and social situation

The use of the Albanian language in administration and transport is regulated in the constitutional law of the Republic of Serbia, which also clarifies the use of all minority languages ​​in the country. The three Opštini already mentioned use Albanian as an official language in addition to Serbian . This regulation is still quite new, but was amended after ethnically motivated conflicts flared up in the Preševo ​​Valley region in 2004.
In addition to Serbian, Albanian is also taught as the language of instruction in the school. In the administrative authorities, schools, police, health service, fire brigade, etc., Albanians are again increasingly employed.

Although the situation has stabilized, there are still signs that large sections of the Albanian population in the Preševo ​​Valley are particularly unhappy with the social situation. Again and again, for example, there are ethnically motivated incidents on both sides. This situation is often referred to in the Albanian media in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia and Albanian nationalist voices even call for the Preševo ​​valley to be connected to Kosovo, often in exchange with northern Kosovo , which is mostly inhabited by Serbs. However, such votes are rejected by the Albanian and Serbian officials. Rather, the aim is to live together together and to respect minority rights.

politics

The Albanians are represented in the National Assembly of Serbia by Riza Halimi , the former mayor of Preševos. He belongs to the coalition of the Albanians of the Preševo ​​Valley .

Culture

The Albanians in Serbia speak the Gegic dialect of Albanian and the majority profess Sunni Islam . The cultural ties to Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia are very close. It is not uncommon for leading Albanian politicians to visit the Preševo ​​Valley.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Republic of Kosovo is not included here.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FINAL RESULTS OF THE CENSUS 2002. Republic Statistical Office, archived from the original on March 6, 2009 ; accessed on October 19, 2012 (English, PDF file, 370 KB).
  2. ^ Ethnic composition of Serbia 2002. In: Population statistics of Eastern Europe. Retrieved November 17, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Miranda Vickers: Shqiptarët - Një histori modern . Bota Shqiptare, 2008, ISBN 978-99956-11-68-2 , Traktati i Shën Stefanit dhe themelimi i Lidhjes së Prizrenit , p. 54 (English: The Albanians - A Modern History . Translated by Xhevdet Shehu).
  4. ↑ Mag Silvija Railić: Protection of minorities in Eastern Europe - Serbia and Montenegro. University of Cologne , January 15, 2007, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on October 19, 2012 (PDF file, 1.24 MB).