Preà ¡evo (, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the PÃÂinja District of southern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 33,449 inhabitants. It is the southernmost town in Central Serbia and largest in the geographical region of Preà ¡evo Valley.
Preà ¡evo is the cultural center of Albanians in Serbia. Albanians form the ethnic majority of the municipality, followed by Serbs, Roma and other ethnic groups.
Slavs arrived roughly in the 7th century, when they first migrated to the Balkans, and by the Middle Ages, Preà ¡evo was part of the Kingdom of Serbia. According to Stefan Duà ¡an'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 à ¾upe (counties) of à ½egligovo and Preà ¡evo (modern Kumanovo region with Sredorek, KozjaÃÂija and the larger part of PÃÂinja). As despot under the rule of Uroà ¡ V, Dejan was entrusted with the administration of the territory between South Morava, PÃÂinja, Skopska Crna Gora (hereditary lands) and in the east, the Upper Struma river with Velbuzhd, a province notably larger than during Duà ¡an's life. After the death of Dejan, his province, besides the à ¾upe of à ½egligovo and Upper Struma, was appropriated to nobleman Vlatko PaskaÃÂiÃÂ. Dejan's eldest son Jovan also received the title of despot, like his father before, by Emperor Uroà ¡. 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 Dejanoviàbrothers recognized 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, Preà ¡evo 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 Preà ¡ovo as having 2000 inhabitants, all Albanian Muslims. Following the First Balkan War in 1912, the Kingdom of Serbia conquered the area.
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was formed after World War I. From 1929 to 1941, Preà ¡evo 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 Preà ¡evo. 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, Preà ¡evo was part of Socialist Republic of Serbia, within SFR Yugoslavia.
In 1992, the Albanians in the area organized a referendum in which they voted that Preà ¡evo, MedveÃÂa 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 Preà ¡evo 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 UÃÂPMB, raised an armed insurgency in the Preà ¡evo 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 Miloà ¡eviÃÂ, 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 kilometers south of Bujanovac, to further stabilize the area.
Today, Preà ¡evo is located in the PÃÂinja District of southern Serbia.
On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania Bujar Nishani made a visit to the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preà ¡evo, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority.
Aside from the town of Preà ¡evo, the municipality includes the following settlements:
According to the 2002 census results, the municipality of Preà ¡evo 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 the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 33,449 inhabitants.
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, Svinjià ¡te, Slavujevac and Cakanovac. The rest of the settlements have an absolute Albanian majority.
The ethnic composition of the municipality:
The average salary in Preà ¡evo (2025) is significantly below the national net wage average.
The following table gives a preview of the total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2022):
In December 2005, the leader of the Albanian Democratic party (PDSH) Ragmi Mustafa became the president of the municipality. He was re-elected several times and served as the president of the municipality until 2016.
On 7 March 2017, the President of Albania Bujar Nishani made a historical visit to the municipalities of Preà ¡evo and Bujanovac, in which Albanians form the ethnic majority. Three days later, Ardita Sinani became the president of the municipality of Preà ¡evo, following the resignation of Shqiprim Arifi due to the termination of the municipal coalition.
On 21 November 2012, the municipality council of Preà ¡evo erected a stele in the center of the town honouring members of the former UÃÂPMB, who died during the Preà ¡evo Valley Conflict from 1999 to 2001, causing a public disapproval throughout Serbia. The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ivica DaÃÂiÃÂ, said about this incident: "It's best that they remove it themselves, because this is a needless provocation, nowhere else in Europe can a memorial plaque be erected to those who are members of terrorist organizations and those who were directly involved in the murders of police officers and soldiers". He called for the removal of the stele by 17 January, then several Albanian politicians and organizations responded with criticism. Mayor of Preà ¡evo Ragmi Mustafa said that the stele shows the identity of the Albanians in the region and announced that it would end the cooperation with national authorities of Serbia if the monument were removed. Serbian Minister of Defence Aleksandar VuÃÂiàannounced that they will act in frame of the law in connection with the controversial stele, and that no one can act against them for all are under the same applicable constitution. He added that Serbia wants peace but will respond to any provocation.
Deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo Rexhep Selimi and Nait Hasani, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÃÂK), threatened armed conflict if the institutions of Serbia removed the memorial plaque. The former U.S. diplomat, United Nations regional representative of Mitrovica Gerard Gallucci said: "Serbs, do not fall for provocations like this with the memorial plaque in Preà ¡evo". President of the National Assembly of Serbia Nebojà ¡a Stefanoviàexplained that it is unacceptable that in Serbia there is a memorial plaque to a terrorist organization and those who killed the citizens of Serbia. He added that is not an ethnic conflict, but the problem is the honoring of those who killed Serbs with a memorial plaque in Serbia. Nevertheless, a member of the Coalition of Albanians of the Preà ¡evo Valley, Jonuz Musliu, which has one seat in the Parliament of Serbia, said that the stele would not be removed. However, the stele was removed by a bulldozer which was guarded by members of the Serbian Gendarmery on 20 January 2013. Despite threats from various Albanian nationalist organizations, there were no incidents during and after the removal.
As a first reaction, the former commander of UÃÂPMB, Orhan Rexhepi, made the separatist statement that this is a "historic day", because "Preà ¡evo and Bujanovac will be a part of Kosovo." Ragmi Mustafa, Preà ¡evo's Mayor, confirmed shortly afterwards that the Albanians want a union with Kosovo for a long time.
The former president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and a minister in Serbian government Rasim Ljajiàresponded and said that the Preà ¡evo valley will not be part of Kosovo or may be because the Albanian representatives from southern Serbia do not have the support of the international community. He also warned against the exploitation of the situation by the Albanians. The operation of the Serbian police broke into the local population from turmoil. During the day, several hundred people gathered at the site of the stele and laid flowers and candles in memory of the fallen UÃÂPMB members. The Albanian prime minister, Sali Berisha, announced that "the Albanian government calls the international institutions to stop this action", even though the U.S. had already announced earlier that it is an internal affair of Serbia, which should solve their elected representatives.
On the evening of 20 January, a group of Albanians who protested against the removal of the stele gathered in Gjakova. Some of them forcibly tried to enter in the Serbian monastery of the Holy Virgin, where several nuns still live, but the attack was prevented by the KFOR and Kosovo police. On the night of 21 January, the group reconviened at the Serbian enclave Goraà ¾devac, were the monuments of the Serb victims of the NATO bombing in 1999, and the Serbian children who were shot at the Bistrica river by Albanians in 2003 was desecrated and destroyed. Thousands of Preà ¡evo citizens rallied on 21 January 2013, to protest the removal of the stele dedicated to Albanian guerrillas. Serbian prime minister Ivica DaÃÂiàsaid that there was no reason for any kind of protests, the illicit stele was not destroyed, nor was violence used. He added that "I doubt that in the United States, Al-Qaeda veterans, or those who have carried out several terrorist attacks in London or Paris, would decide whether a memorial stele should be built." The Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha announced, during a press conference in Tirana, that Albania would review its relations with Serbia, if that is necessary. He also stated that the Albanian government will do everything in his power to help the Albanians in Serbia. Albin Kurti, leader of the political party Vetëvendosje said instead, that greatest responsible for this situation is more likely in Kosovo, the government of Hashim Thaçi.
In response to the removal of the stele, dozens of Albanians, led by former UÃÂK veterans, destroyed a memorial plaque from the World War II in Viti with a crane, and were not prevented by the Kosovo Police. Till the evening of 21 January, over 140 Serbian gravestones were destroyed throughout Kosovo. A chapel and several crosses were also burned. Subsequently, representatives of the United States, the European Union, as well as the OSCE, KFOR and EULEX, sharply condemned the destruction of Serbian monuments and tombs. They added that there is no justification for this violence, and that such actions were totally unacceptable.