Albanians in Presevo Valley and Their National Rights

Abstract

The situation of Albanians in Serbia, especially in three municipalities bordering with Kosovo-Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvegja, which are known as the Presevo Valley region remains the same even after the Kosovo war and after the war that took place in this region between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian fighters LAPMB. Since in this region the majority of the population is Albanian, then the object of study will be focused in the situation of the population there and the challenges facing it in everyday life and problems they encounter, starting from the most basic ones like: education, information, health, use of language, use of national symbols and many other problems. Presevo Valley throughout the stages of its history has always been marked with the various tensions depending on the circumstances, which have escalated to armed conflicts as happened during World War II when fighters of this area contributed greatly to the fight against fascism and Nazis, but even in the latter case when the war took place between government forces and ethnic Albanian Serbian organized around LAPMB. We will also see that the Albanian population in this region is indigenous to the early centuries of history being part of the Ancient Dardania and despite many invaders, Albanian population managed to preserve its national identity. Therefore the aim of this paper is to show the state of Albanians in the Presevo Valley focusing on historical, political, economic, demographic, cultural, educational, health, national rights - the symbols and language, information, migration and many problems other faced by the people of this region.