Preševo, Pčinja, Southern and Eastern, Serbia

🇷🇸 Preševo (Прешево) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. It is the southernmost town in Central Serbia and largest in the geographical region of Preševo Valley.

Preševo is the cultural centre of Albanians in Serbia. Albanians form the ethnic majority of the municipality, followed by Serbs, Roma and other ethnic groups.

History Slavs arrived roughly in the 7th century, when they first migrated to the Balkans, and by the Middle Ages, Preševo was part of the Kingdom of Serbia. According to Stefan Dušan's charter to the monastery of Arhiljevica dated August 1355, sevastokrator Dejan possessed a large province east of Skopska Crna Gora. It included the old župe (counties) of Žegligovo and Preševo (modern Kumanovo region with Sredorek, Kozjačija and the larger part of Pčinja). As despot under the rule of Uroš V, Dejan was entrusted with the administration of the territory between South Morava, Pčinja, Skopska Crna Gora (hereditary lands) and in the east, the Upper Struma river with Velbuzhd, a province notably larger than during Dušan's life. After the death of Dejan, his province, besides the župe of Žegligovo and Upper Struma, was appropriated to nobleman Vlatko Paskačić. Dejan's eldest son Jovan also received the title of despot, like his father before, by Emperor Uroš. In the new redistribution of feudal power, after 1371, the brothers despot Jovan and gospodin Konstantin greatly expanded their province. Not only did they recreate their father's province but also at least doubled the territory, on all sides, but chiefly towards the south. Ottoman sources report that in 1373, the Ottoman army compelled Jovan (who they called Saruyar) in the upper Struma, to recognize Ottoman vassalage. As Prince Marko had done, also the Dejanović brothers recognised Ottoman sovereignty. Although vassals, they had their own government. In the Wallachian victory at the Battle of Rovine (17 May 1395), both Marko and Konstantin died. The provinces of Marko and Konstantin became Ottoman.

From 1877 to 1913 Preševo was part of Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. According to the statistics of the Bulgarian ethnographer Vasil Kanchov from 1900 the settlement is recorded as Prešovo as having 2000 inhabitants, all Albanian Muslims. Following the First Balkan War in 1912, Kingdom of Serbia conquered the area.

Yugoslavia (1918–92) Kingdom of Yugoslavia was formed after World War I. From 1929 to 1941 Preševo was part of the Vardar Banovina.

During the April War the Kingdom of Yugoslavia capitulated after 12 days of war against the Axis Powers. On April 20, Bulgaria occupied part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, including Preševo. The royal authoritarian dictatorship of Bulgaria occupied the area until September 7, 1944, when they handed the area over to Nazi Germany. The Albanian collaborationist regime along with Balli Kombëtar subsequently took over the area. In mid-November, the Partisans forced the Balli Kombëtar to retreat.

From 1945 until 1992 Preševo was part of Socialist Republic of Serbia, within SFR Yugoslavia.

Breakup of Yugoslavia (1991–99) In 1992, the Albanians in the area organized a referendum in which they voted that Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac should join the self-declared assembly of the Republic of Kosova. However, no major events happened until the end of the 1990s.

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, a total of 161 depleted uranium bullets have been recovered in Reljan near Preševo in southern Serbia. The Serbian government has funded the cleanup operation of the Reljan site with 350,000 euros.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, and nearby Kosovo War which lasted until 1999, between 1999 and 2001, an ethnic Albanian paramilitary separatist organization, the UÇPMB, raised an armed insurgency in the Preševo Valley, in the region mostly inhabited by Albanians, with a goal to occupy these three municipalities from Serbia and join them to the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosova.

Following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, the new Serbian government suppressed the violence by 2001 and defeated the separatists. NATO troops also helped the Serbian government by ensuring that the rebels do not import the conflicts back into Kosovo.

In 2009, Serbia opened a military base Cepotina 5 km south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area.

History: Modern Today, Preševo is located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia.

On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania Bujar Nishani made a visit to the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority.

Settlements Aside from the town of Preševo, the municipality includes the following settlements: • Aliđerce • Berčevac • Bujić • Bukarevac • Bukovac • Buštranje • Cakanovac • Cerevajka • Crnotince • Čukarka • Depce • Donja Šušaja • Gare • Golemi Dol • Gornja Šušaja • Gospođince • Ilince • Kurbalija • Ljanik • Mađare • Miratovac • Norča • Oraovica • Pečeno • Rajince • Ranatovce • Reljan • Sefer • Slavujevac • Stanevce • Strezovce • Svinjište • Trnava • Žujince

Demographics According to the 2002 census results, the municipality of Preševo has 34,904 inhabitants. The 2011 census was largely boycotted by the majority (Albanians) of the municipality. As a result, only 3,080 were inhabitants were registered. As of 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 33,449 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups According to the census conducted in 2002, Albanians form nearly 90% of the municipality, and over 95% of the town. Most of the remainder of its inhabitants are Serbs, who are mainly concentrated in the settlements of Ljanik, Svinjište, Slavujevac and Cakanovac. The rest of the settlements have an absolute Albanian majority.

Culture The Abdulla Krashnica Culture Center (Shtëpia e Kulturës "Abdulla Krashnica") is the home to various culture events in Preševo. Its complex includes the town library, music hall and theater. Preševo organizes the annual "Netët e komedisë" (The nights of comedy), a one–week festival with comedy shows from all the Albanian-speaking territories. The festival was first organized in 1994.

There are some natural heritage sites in Preševa Valley like: (Shpella e Ilincës), (Shpella e Arushës), (Trungu i Çarrit), (Burimi i ujit në Banjke), (Ujëndarësi i Preshevës). There has been some criticism, and Arsim Ejupi in his work Kërkime Gjeografike from 2013, claims that until now there were no activities regarding the protection and management of this natural heritage sites, and that this situation is a result of lack of capacities in local government and NGOs regarding the professional treatment of environmental issues. He considers that only with active participation of these actors it can be realized protection and sustainable management of natural heritage in Preševo Valley and the development of ecotourism in the region of Preševo Valley.