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PoliticsKosovo

Few Serbs have returned to southern Kosovo since the war

Sanja Kljajic | Idro Seferi both in Prizren, Kosovo
June 25, 2024

Twenty-five years after the end of the Kosovo War, very few Serbs have returned to southern Kosovo. Of the 13,000 Serbs who lived in the city of Prizren before the war, only 80 remain, most of whom live in nearby villages. Although they no longer fear violence, returnees face serious economic difficulties.

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Prizren is the second largest city in Kosovo with a population of over 170,000. It is a popular tourist destination and a location for numerous festivals during the summer season. It is also home to many religious denominations, cultures and ethnicities. In addition to the ethnic Albanian majority, Prizren is home to Turks, Bosniaks, Gorani, Serbs, Roma and people of other nationalities.

Before the Kosovo War (1998–99), about 13,000 Serbs lived in Prizren, which is in southern Kosovo. Today, there are only 80, most of whom live in the villages of the municipality. The mass emigration of Serbs from Kosovo took place after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia — a federation made up of the Republics of Serbia and Montenegro — and the end of the war in 1999, when the Kosovar Albanians, who had been expelled during the war, returned.

Although the Government of Kosovo set up a Ministry for Minorities and Return, only a small number of Serbs have actually returned to urban areas. One reason was because many younger people in particular built lives in other places and cities in the intervening period.

Most of those who did return are elderly. According to the Office for Communities and Return, only two families with children have returned. However, it is uncertain how long they will stay because there is no Serbian-language school in Prizren.

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