Kosovo
Between March 1998 and April 1999, over half a million people were forced out of Kosovo, a region in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), during fierce fighting between ethnic Albanians and Serbs. Most fled to neighboring Albania and Macedonia. In Albania, the Assemblies of God operated refugee camps, and other relief agencies helped provide these camps with food, blankets, and medical and hygienic supplies. Besides meeting the basic physical needs of these refugees, however, AG missionaries also ministered to spiritual needs by sharing the gospel, reading the Bible, and praying with the refugees. Many refugees became believers and returned to Kosovo after the war with newfound faith and hope. These new Christians formed the nucleus of the Assemblies of God church in Kosovo.
As a direct result of the demographics in Kosovo, where 50% of the population is under 25, this fledging fellowship’s greatest needs are training for pastors and ministry to children. Both long and short-term training for ministers is needed since the leadership of the church is so young (almost all of the pastors are under the age of 35, and many have been Christians for less than 10 years). Intensive leadership training classes are held several times annually, and a Bible school is planned, but the need is still great. The Kosovar church also requires education and literature materials for use in Sunday school, Children’s Church, as well as in the public schools.
Although a ministry called “Agape Kosovo,” continues to help the Kosovar church with humanitarian aid, more areas require help. Christian orphanages are desperately needed for the countless numbers of children orphaned in the war. Medical care is expensive and in short supply. HealthCare Ministries (HCM), the medical outreach of Assemblies of God World Missions has sent several teams to minister in Kosovo in the last few years. Offering free medical and eye care to former refugees who have returned to their homeland, HCM has had incredible opportunities to share the love of Christ in this war-torn region.
Although the war is over, ethnic tensions persist. The Kosovar church has endured persecution, poverty, and war, but young evangelists and pastors continue to emerge out of this vibrant group of believers. The church is growing and thriving despite all obstacles. Many more churches have been established since the war, including the Community Fellowship Center of the Assemblies of God, which opened its doors in April of 2001. Located in Mitrovica, a city near the Serbian border, this Pentecostal fellowship, along with many others, hopes to bring healing and hope to a city, and a region, that has so long been divided.
The Assemblies of God in country reports the following statistics:
- Churches and outstations—2
- Members and adherents—125
- Ministers—0
Official Name: Kosovo
Location: A province in southwestern Serbia in Serbia-Montenegro (formerly known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or FRY), on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe; Macedonia to the southeast and Albania to the southwest
Administrative center: Pristina
Area: 4,203 square miles
Government: The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has jurisdiction over foreign affairs, monetary policy, justice and public order; NATO’s Kosovo Force (K-For) has jurisdiction over defense and security; the local government oversees other civil affairs
Industries: Agriculture, winemaking, timber, mining; Chief crops: Corn, wheat, barley, potatoes, plums, grapes, and tobacco
Population: 2—2.2 million (this 2003 UN figure is approximate due to large population migrations and displacement of people during the war); Ethnic Groups: Albanian (88%), Serbian (7%), others (5%); Languages: Albanian, Serbo-Croatian
Education: Free and compulsory for ages 5-18; Literacy: 94%
Geography and Climate
Mountains, covered with deciduous forests, meadows, and pastureland, and hills comprise much of the province of Kosovo. Several peaks in the Sar Planina mountain range rise to more than 8,200 feet. The Ibar and the Sitnica rivers as well as a branch of the Drin River flow through the area. Although the region is rich in natural resources such as lead and zinc, it has historically been one of the poorest regions in Europe.
History and Government
The Illyrian tribe of Dardanae was the first to inhabit the present-day region of Kosovo in the Neolithic period. After a period of rule by the Romans, a Serbian ruler annexed the area at the end of the 12 th century. At the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Ottoman Turks inflicted heavy casualties on the Serbian army and eventually gained control of all of Serbia by 1459. Kosovo remained an Ottoman territory until 1912, when it became part of the newly independent state of Albania. One year later, however, the Great Powers—Austria-Hungary, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, and Russia—forced Albania to cede Kosovo to Serbia. In 1918, it was incorporated into the newly formed Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which later became Yugoslavia.
In 1946, Kosovo became an autonomous province within Serbia. Periodic uprisings by ethnic Albanians resulted in greater autonomy over the years until riots in 1981 led to a Serbian backlash. Serbia’s Communist party leader, Slobodan Milosevic, placed the province under de facto military rule in March 1989. One year later, Serbian authorities abolished Kosovo’s parliament. Kosovo’s political leaders sought refuge in Macedonia, where they declared Kosovo a separate political entity within Yugoslavia. The Serbian government declared this exiled government illegal.
Tensions between ethnic Albanians (the majority of the population) and Serbs mounted as the Albanians continued to agitate for secession from Serbia, seeking either union with Albania or outright independence. In March 1998, a major Serbian crackdown began in response to repeated attacks from an armed ethnic Albanian group called the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In the months that followed, hundreds of people, mostly ethnic Albanians, were killed; more than 200,000 were driven from their homes. Although Milosevic agreed to withdraw troops in October under pressure from NATO, he strengthened his forces in Kosovo instead. Fighting resumed in November, and Serbian forces began a major offensive against ethnic Albanian villages in late December 1998.
On March 24, 1999, NATO forces began a campaign of air strikes against military targets in former FRY. Serbian assaults on ethnic Albanians intensified. NATO continued its campaign of air strikes during April, bombing roads, bridges, oil production facilities, and other targets in Yugoslavia. The United Nations estimated that nearly 640,000 people were forced from Kosovo between March 1998 and the end of April 1999. In late May, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) released an indictment accusing Milosevic and four other senior Yugoslav officials of committing war crimes in Kosovo. On June 3, the day after the indictment was made public, Milosevic finally agreed to an international peace plan for Kosovo. After verifying that FRY troops were beginning to withdraw from Kosovo, NATO suspended bombing on June 10. A 50,000-member international peacekeeping force helped ensure the safe return of Kosovo refugees, who numbered about 780,000 by the time the peace agreement was reached.
As NATO-led troops (K-For) began occupying Kosovo, the UN Security Council set up a temporary administration (UNMIK) for the province, which was legally recognized as still being a part of the FRY. Thousands of Serbs and other non-Albanians fled the province as Albanian revenge attacks on Serbs increased.
Local government (municipal) elections in October 2000 brought the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)—which had proclaimed the independence of Kosovo in 1990—to power; legislative elections in November 2001 confirmed the party’s preeminent place. Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, head of the LDK, was elected president of Kosovo by the legislature. A 120-member legislative assembly includes ten seats reserved for Serbs, and ten seats reserved for other ethnic minorities (mostly Roma, Turks and Bosniaks).
In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro reported hosting 277,000 internally displaced people (the vast majority being Serbs and Roma from Kosovo), which included 201,641 persons displaced from Kosovo into Serbia proper, 29,451 displaced from Kosovo into Montenegro, and about 46,000 displaced within Kosovo itself, including 16,000 returning refugees unable to inhabit their original homes.
In March 17, 2004 , serious unrest in Kosovo led to several deaths, and the destruction of a large number of Orthodox churches and monasteries in the province, as Albanians clashed with Serbs. Several thousand more Kosovo Serbs were reported to have left their homes to seek refuge in Serbia proper or in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo proper.
Most of province’s Albanian inhabitants support the independence movement, while Serbs fear it would be a preliminary to further ethnic cleansing and the formation of a “Greater Albania”. The Kosovo parliament issued a resolution supporting independence since the “political will of Kosovo people for independence is non negotiable”. In the meantime, the Serbian cabinet adopted a resolution opposing full independence for Kosovo
Although Kosovo is still considered a province of the former FRY, now known as Serbia and Montenegro, the president of Kosovo continues to work toward self-determination for Kosovo under international supervision.
Religion
The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo share the ethnic background of the people of neighboring Albania. Most ethnic Albanians are Muslim, while the Serbian population generally belongs to the Eastern Orthodox Church.