Ratko Mladic Capture a Huge Relief for People of the Balkans

Reader Comments
Back to blog

Milosevic died of a heart attack, not by suicide. "Once shunned"? Interesting word choice. The last paragraph is accurate but the accounts of the war in the Balkans is far from it.
5/10. 4 points for effort, 1 for reliability.

Jimmy of NC 8:27PM November 15, 2012

From that same Wiki article":
Medieval Period:
"Serbian King Stefan Milutin raised the church of Our Holy Lady of Ljeviš in Prizren which became the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Prizren Episcopate. During the reign of Emperor Stefan Dušan throughout the 14th century, Prizren had the Imperial Court, seated in the fortress now known as Kaljaja, and that court was the political center of the Serbian Empire. Serb Emperor Dušan raised the massive Monastery of Saint Archangel near the city in 1343–1352. In the vicinity of Prizren was Ribnik town where the two Serbian Emperors had their Courts. The city of Prizren became known as the Serbian Constantinople because of its trading and industrial importance. It was the centre of production of silk, fine trades and a colony of merchants from Kotor and Dubrovnik. In the 14th century Prizren was the seat of the Ragusan Consule for the entire Serb monarchy."
Modern times:
"During the First Balkan War the city was seized by the Serbian army and incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia"
"The Communists of Yugoslavia liberated it by 1944. It was formulated as a part of Kosovo and Metohija, under Democratic Serbia as a part of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. The Constitution defined the Autonomous Region of Kos-Met within the People's Republic of Serbia, a constituent state of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. In 9–10 July 1945 the Regional Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija held in Prizren adopted the decision of abolishing the region's autonomy and direct integration into Serbia.
The Province was renamed to Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in 1974, remaining part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, but having attributions similar to a Socialist Republic within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The former status was restored in 1989, and officially in 1990."
Yes, Prizren has changed hands quite a few times over the centuries, and it is easy to understand the present desire to disown anything Serbian because of the last war, but to claim that it has not been "Serbian" is a bit of a stretch.

junior of DC 7:21PM May 30, 2011

Prizren (Albanian: Prizren or Prizreni; Serbian: Призрен, Prizren; Turkish: Prizren, Pürzeyn, Perzerrin) is a historical city located in southern Kosovo[a]. -- says the first line in Wikipedia.
Also, you don't need to tell me about Prizren, because I live there, and know the history of the town very well. Based on the premise you mentioned above that Prizren can be called a Serbian town, then USA should be called England or UK still...
My point is that Prizren today is second largest town of independent state of Kosovo, recognized by 74 UN countries.

Niki of AL 12:48PM May 29, 2011

I'd suggest that you read up a bit on Prizren history and just how long it was a part of Serbia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prizren is a good starting point.

junior of DC 11:10AM May 27, 2011