The slogan was used by a crowd in Serbia in a funeral following the 1987Paraćin massacre.
Following Kosovo'sdeclaration of independence on 17 February 2008 by Kosovar Albanian members of the Legislative Assembly,[1] this was the marquee slogan used in the Belgrade demonstrations against it.[2] The slogan has been used by a series of protests, and by theSerbian Government.[3]
The slogan has appeared on T-shirts and in graffiti and was placed on the websites of Kosovar institutions by hackers in 2009. The slogan is used by Serbs across the world.[4]
2008 Serbia protests, at the intersection on the way to theCathedral of Saint Sava on February 21, 2008, in BelgradePosters supporting Kosovo as a part of Serbia at the Prešov Down-town Railway Stop in SlovakiaKosovo is Serbia graffiti on theBerlin Wall
AKosovo je Srbija rally organised by the Serbian government was held on 21 February 2008 inBelgrade in front of the Parliament, with around 200,000[5][6]–500,000[7] people attending. The US Embassy was set on fire by a small group of protesters.[8] A small protest also occurred in London[9] and 5,000 protesters demonstrated inMitrovica the following day.[5] Kosovo police were injured during a protest by 150 war veterans at a border crossing on 25 February.[10]
Violent protests using the slogan occurred inMontenegro after the government recognised the independence of Kosovo in October 2008.[11]
In March 2008, American-bornSerbian swimmerMilorad Čavić won the European championship in the 50 m butterfly, setting the new European record, a result briefly quashed when the European Swimming Federation (LEN) disqualified the swimmer for wearing a T-shirt at the medals ceremony that read “Kosovo is Serbia” inSerbian.[12]
On January 15, 2017, Serbian authoritiessent a train[13] from Belgrade destined for Kosovo, painted with the slogan and iconography inside, which was stopped at the border by Kosovar officials as it was considered to be provocative.Aleksandar Vučić ordered the train to be stopped atRaška as he believed the rail had been mined.[14] The new train was intended for peace relations but was instead used byTomislav Nikolić to the "brink of conflict", according to Kosovar officials.[15]
A sticker containingKosovo is Serbia written on theSerbian flag stuck on a billboard promotingEU investment inVelika Plana
Historians asNoel Malcolm and Andrea R. Nagy commented on the slogan. Malcolm claimed that "Kosovo was not the cradle of Serbia as it was held by Serbs only centuries after they invaded the Balkans and then only for 250 years before the Ottoman occupation". Kosovo was conquered by theKingdom of Serbia in 1912 and became part of Yugoslavia in 1918.[19] Nagy states that In some sense this slogan is true, "but notes that Kosovo was administered by Serbia for only a short period".[20]
