Albanians in Serbia

Албанци у Србији Shqiptarët në Serbi
Total population
61,687 (2022)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Preševo	31,340[2]
Bujanovac	25,465[2]
Languages
Albanian andSerbian
Religion
Islam

Albanians are a recognizedethnic minority inSerbia.^[3] According to data from the 2022 census, the population of ethnic Albanians in Serbia is 61,687, constituting 0.9% of the total population. The vast majority of them live in thePreševo Valley, the southernmost part of the country borderingKosovo andNorth Macedonia.

In late antiquity, the contact zone between Late Proto-Albanian and Balkan Latin was located in eastern and southeastern Serbia.^[4][5] This area includedNiš, a city in southeastern Serbia. The toponymNiš in Slavic evolved from a toponym attested in Ancient Greek asΝΑΙΣΣΟΣ (Naissos), which achieved its present form via phonetic changes in Proto-Albanian and thereafter entered Slavic.^[6] This indicates that Proto-Albanians lived in 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.^[7][8]

The development of Niš <Nish <Naiss- may also represent a regional development in late antiquity Balkans which while related may not be identical with Albanian.^[9] The potential spread of the Albanian language in the pre-Slavic era was possibly up toDrobeta-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.^[6] The Torlak Slavic dialects are influenced by the features which emerged in the Albanian and Eastern Romance spoken in southeastern Serbia.^[10]

Toponyms such asArbanaška,Arbanaška river,Arbanaška Mountain,Arbanaška Hill andĐjake shows an Albanian presence in theToplica and Southern Morava regions (located north-east of contemporary Kosovo) since the Late Middle Ages.^[11][12] 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.^[12]

By 1477, part of the AlbanianMatarugetribe lived in the kaza ofPrijepolje, where they formed their own distinct community (nahiye) with 10 villages (katund).^[13] In Ottoman records on the regions ofToplica,Kruševac, andLeskovac that date between 1444 and 1446, a village by the name ofTanuš (derived from the Albanian anthroponymTanush) appears. In the region of Toplica specifically, several settlements of Albanian toponomy were recorded during the first half of the 15th century, such asGonzi,Castrat,Spanzi,Zur,Katun andKriva Feja. All of these settlements are indeed older than and predate the time of their recording during the first half of the 15th century.^[14]

In 1700, after theGreat Serb Migration, theKelmendi andKuçi and other tribes like theShkreli of Rugova established themselves in the region ofRožaje and the neighboring town ofTutin, Serbia. TheShala,Krasniqi, andGashi also moved in the region.^[15][16][17] Starting in the 18th century many people originating from theHoti tribe have migrated to and live in Sandžak, mainly in the Tutin area, but also in Sjenica.^[18]

In the era of trade development in the Ottoman Balkans, Albanian merchants from Shkodra, Pristina, and Prizren had settled in thesanjak of Smederevo (Belgrade Pashalik). Groups of Albanians from Kosovo settled in the areas ofKraljevo andĆuprija.^[19] Albanians were the most significant non-Slavic group of the Smederevo region, the second biggest Muslim group of the pashalik and part of its Muslim population with Muslim Serbs, Bosniaks and smaller communities.^[20][21] 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 authorJoakim Vujić recorded more "TurkishArnauts than Serbs" in 1826.^[22] Albanian villages of Smederevo were concentrated in the south and east of the region.^[22]

In the first decades of thePrincipality 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 Albanians, which were the overwhelming majority of the Muslims that lived inSmederevo,Kladovo, andĆuprija. The new state aimed to homogenize its population: as a result, from 1830 to theSerbian–Ottoman 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.^[23] PrinceMiloš Obrenović asked his officialMilosav Zdravković to buy the houses of Albanians at a higher price than the market one and ordered the expulsion of Muslims - most of whom were Albanians from western Serbia. The residences of these population were burnt and they were moved to Ottoman lands.^[24]

Albanians in the territories which were included in theKingdom of Serbia after 1912 were concentrated in three regions: Kosovo,Sanjak of Novi Pazar, and theSanjak of Niš. Albanians were the majority of the population ofToplica (includingKuršumlija andProkuplje), a significant part of the population ofLeskovac andVranje, and a part of the Muslim community inNiš. In the towns, 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 ofVranje. In 1843–1844, the pashalik was engulfed by theuprising of Dervish Cara against Huseyin Pasha of Vranje.

After theTanzimat 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 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 the rebellion. Local Albanians were led by Sulejman Tola of Veliki Trnovac, Selman Rogaçica, Ymer Aga of Preševo and Dervish Cara. The decisive battle which the Ottomans won and ended the rebellion took place on the Somolica Hill between Preševo and Bujanovac.^[25]

The Sanjak of Niš became the subject of territorial dispute in Serbian-Ottoman War (1876–1878). Albanians from Kuršumlja, Prokuplje, and Leskovac formed units which operated independently from the Ottoman army for the self-defense of villages against the Serbian troops. Albanian units joined the Ottoman frontline defense from Kosovo and Macedonia.^[26] 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.^[27] In the first stages of the war the Ottoman army won and enacted harsh repressive measures in Serbia.^[28]The entry of Russia in the war changed the situation and the Ottomans shifted their forces towards the eastern front. The Ottoman defeat in theSiege of Plevna secured Russian victory in the war and the Ottoman army retreated on all fronts. Ottoman forces surrenderedNiš on 10 January 1878 and Serbian army continued its southwest advance entering the valleys ofKosanica,Pusta Reka, andJablanica. Serbian army in theMorava Valley continued its advance toVranje, with the intention of then turning west and enteringKosovo 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 mountains. Serbian forces took these villages one by one and most remained vacant. Albanian refugees continued to retreat toward Kosovo and their march was halted at theGoljak Mountains when an armistice was declared.^[29]

The Serbian army operating in theMorava Valley continued south toward two canyons:Grdelica (betweenVranje andLeskovac) andVeternica (southwest of Grdelica). After Grdelica was taken, Serbian forces tookVranje. Local Albanians had left with their belongings prior to Serbian forces reaching the town, and other countryside Albanians experienced tensions with Serbian neighbors who fought against and eventually evicted them from the area. Albanian refugees defended the Veternica canyon, before retreating toward the Goljak Mountains. Albanians who lived nearby in theMasurica region did not resist Serbian forces and GeneralJovan Belimarković refused to carry out orders from Belgrade to deport them, but they were deported with other Albanians after Belimarković moved out of Masurica.^[29]

As a result of the territorial expansion of thePrincipality 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 ofNišava District) an estimated 50,000–60,000 Albanians were expelled and settled mainly in Kosovo.^[30][31] Between the Ottoman-Serbian armistice and the final act of theCongress of Berlin, some Albanian groups had returned to their homes. After the treaty of Berlin was signed, they were expelled to Turkey. In total, around 600 Albanian villages wereethnically cleansed.^[32] Albanians who settled in Kosovo and other regions became known asmuhaxhirs (refugees). The events of 1877-78 marked the beginning of the modernSerbian-Albanian conflict.^[33]

The expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Albanians from southern Serbia was the result of a policy of ethnic homogenization of the Serbian state and reflected Serbia's strategic goal of expanding southwards to Macedonia andOld Serbia. In Serbian geopolitical strategy, Albanians were seen as an "undesirable and unreliable population" which had to be replaced with a "reliable" population.^[34] Orthodox Serbs fromMontenegro andHerzegovina were invited to settle in the depopulated areas. A part of the Serb settlers came from nearby eastern Kosovo that had been driven out in interethnic violence by 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. KingMilan I struck a deal directly with Shahid Pasha, a local Albanian military officer from Jablanica. Under the agreement, some Muslim Albanians returned to Gornja Jablanica (Medveđa).^[35]

Whole Albanian villages had been transformed into columns of flames – in the distance, nearby, and even right along the railway line. This was my first, real, authentic view of war, of the merciless mutual slaughter of human beings. — Leon Trotsky, Behind the Curtains of the Balkan Wars^[36], The Balkan Wars (1912)

Some historians suggest that Austro-Hungarian emissaries were active in areas where Serbs and Albanians coexisted, deliberately stirring conflicts and divisions between the two nations to advance their state's political interests and influence.^[37]

During theBalkan Wars, theKosovo 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, GeneralPetar Živković targeted the Albanians of the region. Many journalists who includingLeon Trotsky,Leo Freundlich observed and recorded the events. Danish journalist Fritz Magnussen recorded the slaughter of 5,000 Albanians near Pristina.^[38]

In theKingdom of Yugoslavia, Albanians were divided in three banovinas (counties):Vardar Banovina,Zeta Banovina, andMorava Banovina since 1929. The Albanians of modern-day southern Serbia were within Vardar Macedonia. In the socialist Yugoslavia, the Preševo Valley didn't become part of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo but part of the Serbia proper. This decision was influenced by the location oftransport infrastructure near Preševo. In Albanian politics, Preševo continues to be called "eastern Kosovo".^[39]

In 1992, the Albanian representatives in the municipalities Preševo, Bujanovac, and Medveđa, organized a referendum in which they voted for the joining of these municipalities to the self-declared assembly of theRepublic of Kosova.^[40] However, no major events happened until the end of the 1990s.

Following the establishment of the Republic of Kosovo, ethnic Albanians from Kosovo created theKosovo Liberation Army^[41] which since 1995 had been attacking Serbian police forces and security service officials which abused Albanian civilians.^[42] From 1998 onwards, the group was involved in open conflict with an increasing number of Serbian security forces, and the escalating tensions eventually led to theKosovo War.^[43][44][45]

Following the end of the Kosovo War, a 5-kilometre-wideGround Safety Zone was created, serving as a buffer zone between theYugoslav Army and theKosovo Force.^[46][47] In June 1999, a new Albanian militant insurgent group - theLiberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac (UÇPMB) - was formed and began training.^[48][49]

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.^[50]

Since the early 2000s, theAlbanian Coalition of Preševo Valley has gained representation in theNational Assembly of Serbia where it holds, depending on the elction results, from one to two seats.

In 2009, aMilitary Base "South" was opened, some 5 kilometers south of Bujanovac, being the largest military facility built in Serbia since thebreakup of Yugoslavia.^[51]

In 2017, thepresident of Albania,Bujar Nishani, made a historical visit to the municipalities of Preševo and Bujanovac, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority.^[52] Later that year, the newly-elected president of Albania,Ilir Meta, made a historical visit to Medveđa, municipality with Albanian ethnic minority.^[53] In the aftermath of the2019 Albania earthquake, Albanians of the Preševo Valley donated aid and sent it through several convoys to the victims of an earthquake.^[54]

In 2021 theHelsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia released a report which stated that the Serbian state was undertaking a "passivation of residence of Albanians" resulting in Albanians living in the Preševo Valley losing the right to vote, their property, health insurance, pension, and employment. According to the report, this measure amounted to "ethnic cleansing through administrative means".^[55]

According to data from the 2022 census, in the municipalities ofPreševo andBujanovac Albanians form the majority of population (93.7% in Preševo and 62% in Bujanovac, respectively), while in the municipality ofMedveđa Albanians are second largest ethnic group (afterSerbs) and their share is 14.2%.^[56] The region of Bujanovac and Preševo is known as thePreševo Valley (Serbian: Прешевска Долина, Albanian: Lugina e Preshevës).

Belgrade, capital of Serbia, has a small Albanian community; according to data from the 2022 census, 932 Albanians were registered.

Albanians inSandžak 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 a report about the region in 1901–02. The kaza ofSjenica was inhabited mainly by Orthodox Serbs (69 villages with 624 households) and Bosnian Muslims (46 villages with 655 households), while Albanians (505 households) lived exclusively in the town of Sjenica. The kaza ofNovi 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 a total of 1,749 Serb and Albanian households with 8,745 inhabitants.^[57] The kaza ofNovi 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.^[57] The last official registration of the population of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar before theBalkan Wars was conducted in 1910: according to data, there were 52,833 Muslims (65% of total population) and 27,814 Orthodox Serbs (35%); the majority of the Muslim population were Albanians.^[58] In the 21st century, there still is a small community which identifies as Albanian in thePešter area, living in villages such as Boroštica, Doliće, and Ugao.^[59] For the past two generations these villages have opted to declare themselves "Bosniak" in the national census. This partialbosniakicisation and abandonment of the self-designationAlbanian 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 surroundingBosniak population.^[59] 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.^[59] Elders in these villages are still fluent in Albanian.^[59] Catholic Albanian groups which settled in the early 18th century were converted to Islam in that period. Their descendants make up the large majority of the population of Tutin and Pešter.^[60]

The main religion of Albanians in the Preševo Valley isIslam. Prior to theOttoman period, the population of the region was mostlyRoman Catholic. According to data from the 2011 census, 71.1% of all Albanians areMuslim, followed byCatholics (16.8%) andOrthodox Christians (2.6%). The remainder did not declare their religion or belong to smaller religious groups (9.5%).^[61]

The first Albanian language elementary school in the Preševo Valley was opened in Preševo in 1945. The first Albanian language secondary school was opened in 1948.^[62]

Before the 2001 rebellion, no Albanian-language media were allowed in the Preševo Valley. The first Albanian-language channel was allowed after the 2001Končulj Agreement. In 2003, the public TV channel began to broadcast in Albanian in Preševo. Another public channel in Bujanovac broadcasts daily 8 hours (out of a total 16) in Albanian. "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.^[63]

• Albanians in Kosovo
• Albanians in North Macedonia
• Albania–Serbia relations

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• Palairet, Michael (2016).Macedonia: A Voyage through History. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.ISBN 978-1443888493.
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