Gračanica, Kosovo
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Gračanica ( sr-cyr, Грачаница) or Graçanicë ( sq-definite, Graçanica), is a town and municipality located in
Pristina District The District of Pristina ( sq, Rajoni i Prishtinës, sr, Приштински округ, Prištinski okrug) is a district in Kosovo. Its seat is the capital city of Pristina. It consists of eight municipalities and 298 villages. According to th ...
in central
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. As of 2011, it has an estimated population of 10,675 inhabitants, though most Serbs boycotted the Kosovo government's attempt at conducting a census. It is centered around the
Gračanica Monastery Gračanica () may refer to: Places Bosnia and Herzegovina * Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a town and municipality in Tuzla *Gračanica (Bugojno), a village in Central Bosnia * Gračanica, Gacko, a village in Republika Srpska * Gračanica, P ...
, ten kilometers east of
Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...
. The 1999
Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
and its aftermath transformed Gračanica from a sleepy village into an administrative center serving the needs of the 75,000
Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 100,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about half of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Albanians, they form the largest ethnic comm ...
living south of the
Ibar River The Ibar ( sr-cyrl, Ибар, ), also known as the Ibër and Ibri ( sq, Ibër, Ibri), is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro, northern Kosovo and central Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Rož ...
. After the 2013 Brussels Agreement, the municipality was supposed to become part of the
Community of Serb Municipalities The Community of Serb Municipalities ( sr, / ), or Association of Serb Municipalities ( sq, Asociacioni i Komunave Serbe, AKS), is a planned self-governing association of municipalities with a Serb majority population in Kosovo. The proposal f ...
, however this still hasn't been implemented yet despite the promises from the Prishtina government.


History

Pope Benedict IX mentioned the village as ''Grazaniza'' in a letter from 1303. It was mentioned in King Stefan Milutin's founding charter of the
Gračanica Monastery Gračanica () may refer to: Places Bosnia and Herzegovina * Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a town and municipality in Tuzla *Gračanica (Bugojno), a village in Central Bosnia * Gračanica, Gacko, a village in Republika Srpska * Gračanica, P ...
(1321). In the 15th century the settlement was a notable commercial centre. Until the 17th century it had a notable
Ragusan Ragusan may refer to: * citizen of the Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate ...
community. It seems that the settlement was abandoned in 1689 during the Austrian penetration into Kosovo in the Great Turkish War. In 1901, it had 60 houses, all Serb, with 400 inhabitants.


2000–present

On 6 June 2000, a grenade was thrown at a crowd of ethnic Serbs waiting for a bus in the town square, injuring three people, which was followed by some civil unrest. On 15 March 2004 a Serb teenager was killed in a drive-by shooting in the village of
Čaglavica Čaglavica ( al, Çagllavicë, sr-Cyrl, Чаглавица) is a village near Pristina, Kosovo. History 2004 unrest in Kosovo During the unrests in March 2004 that occurred throughout Kosovo, 12000 Kosovo Albanian rioters tried to stor ...
(partly in Gračanica). This event led to the 2004 unrest in Kosovo. In the aftermath of the unrest, another Serb teenager Dimitrije Popović was killed in a drive-by shooting by Albanians on June 5, 2004. Magistral road between
Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...
and
Gjilan Gjilan, or Gnjilane ( sr-cyr, Гњилане) is the eighth largest city in Kosovo and seat of Gjilan Municipality and Gjilan District. Name Ottoman chronicler Evliya Çelebi mentions ''Morava'' as a settlement of the Sanjak of Vučitrn. ...
passing through Gračanica proved to be a very dangerous place for Serbs, although such killings by Albanians do not exist today, fear and mistrust of Serbs towards Albanians has not completely disappeared, because sometimes there is a provocation of Albanians passing by cars. In 2016, an attempt was made to kidnap a Serbian girl. After the
2008 Kosovo declaration of independence The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, which proclaimed the Republic of Kosovo to be a state independent from Serbia, was adopted at a meeting held on 17 February 2008 by 109 out of the 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo, including the P ...
, the municipality of Gračanica was established in 2008 by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, out of parts of the municipalities of
Lipljan Lipjan ( sq-definite, Lipjani) or Lipljan ( sr-Cyrl, Липљан) is a town and municipality located in the Pristina District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Lipjan has 6,870 inhabitants, while the municipality has 57,605 i ...
,
Kosovo Polje Fushë Kosova ( sq-definite, Fushë Kosovë), or Kosovo Polje ( sr-Cyrl, Косово Поље, "Kosovo Field"), is a town and municipality located in the District of Pristina in central Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Fushë Ko ...
and
Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...
. Although the new municipality is primarily inhabited by Serbs, this move was not recognized by the
Government of Serbia The Government of Serbia ( sr, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government ( sr, ...
, which does not recognize the Republic of Kosovo, and therefore its administrative changes.Law on Territorial Organization and Local Self-Government
, Parliament of Serbia
After the 2013 Brussels Agreement between the governments of
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
and
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, Serbia recognized the municipalities and Kosovo's governance of the territory, and agreed to create a
Community of Serb Municipalities The Community of Serb Municipalities ( sr, / ), or Association of Serb Municipalities ( sq, Asociacioni i Komunave Serbe, AKS), is a planned self-governing association of municipalities with a Serb majority population in Kosovo. The proposal f ...
, which will operate within the Kosovo legal framework.


Politics

The first municipal elections were held on 15 November 2009.Nova Srpska Politička Misao
Грачаница: Срби да бојкотују изборе које организују косовске институције
, 29 October 2009
The government of Serbia asked Serbs not to participate in the elections which it does not recognize, but many of them did. Serb Bojan Stojanović was elected Mayor. Town of Gračanica is also temporary seat of the administration of Serbia-recognized City of Pristina. The Serbia-sponsored local elections were held on 11 May 2008. Those elections were boycotted by the Albanians who consider Kosovo independent from Serbia, so only Serbs participated.


Settlements

Aside from the town of Gračanica, the municipality has the following villages: * Badovac * Batuše *
Čaglavica Čaglavica ( al, Çagllavicë, sr-Cyrl, Чаглавица) is a village near Pristina, Kosovo. History 2004 unrest in Kosovo During the unrests in March 2004 that occurred throughout Kosovo, 12000 Kosovo Albanian rioters tried to stor ...
(part) * Dobrotin * Donja Gušterica * Gornja Gušterica *
Laplje Selo Laplje Selo ( sr-Cyrl, Лапље Село, sq, Llapllaselle) is a village in the Gračanica municipality of Kosovo. Laplje Selo was part of the Pristina municipality before the Gračanica municipality was created. It is a Serb enclave situ ...
* Lepina * Livade * Preoce * Skulanevo * Sušica * Suvi Do * Radevo * Ugljare


Demographics

The municipality of Gračanica has 10,675 inhabitants, according to the 2011 census results. Based on the population estimates from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics in 2016, the municipality has 11,931 inhabitants. Many of the inhabitants are Serb refugees driven out of
Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...
. Differing estimates exist for the enclave as a whole, ranging from 10,500 to 13,000 inhabitants in the 15 villages that make up the enclave. The enclave has a roughly ten-kilometer radius in which
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
enjoy freedom of movement and attempt to organize a meaningful life for themselves.


Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality of Gračanica:


Geography and infrastructure

The settlement is situated in the spacious valley of the Gračanka river, by the river, on the exit of the gorge between the hill of Veletina (874m) and sloping hill of Glasnovik on the south, and hill of Steževac (794m) on the northeast.


Infrastructure

Gračanica has been a Serb enclave since the end of the 1999
Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
, and is the largest and most secure Serbian enclave in central Kosovo. It runs along the
Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
-Pristina road, and unites several neighboring Serbian villages. The enclave, which contains rich farmland and is strategically located in the center of Kosovo, on major roads and near Pristina, has been seen as a potential threat by some Albanian nationalists, who view it as "a den of Serbian intrigue". Gračanica has an elementary school, several small stores, an open-air market and a police station that employs ethnic Albanians and international police officers, who notably do not speak the
Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...
. The health care center is located in the central part of the town, next to the
UNMIK The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...
headquarters. An elementary school was reconstructed after the 1999 war. In December 2008, the Serbian government built a €90,000 post office in Gračanica and promised further investments.


Annotations


See also

*
Municipalities of Kosovo A municipality ( sq, komuna, sr, / ) is the basic administrative division in Kosovo and constitutes the only level of power in local governance. There are 38 municipalities in Kosovo; 27 of which have an Albanian ethnic majority, 10 Serb and 1 ...
*
Cities and towns in Kosovo This is a list of cities and towns in the Kosovo in alphabetical order categorised by municipality or district, according to the criteria used by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS). Kosovo's population is distributed in 1,467 settlements with ...
*
Community of Serb Municipalities The Community of Serb Municipalities ( sr, / ), or Association of Serb Municipalities ( sq, Asociacioni i Komunave Serbe, AKS), is a planned self-governing association of municipalities with a Serb majority population in Kosovo. The proposal f ...


References


Sources

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External links

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Municipality of Gračanica

Municipality of Gračanica (Republic of Kosovo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracanica, Kosovo Serbian enclaves in Kosovo Municipalities of Kosovo Medieval Serbian sites in Kosovo