Albanian-Serbian Besa Agreements in 1906-1907: A Model of Serbian-Albanian Coexistence in Kosovo

The richness of the multilayered historical reality, the authentic multicultural context of everyday life and the specific regional peculiarities of Albanian-Serbian relations in Kosovo have been unjustly simplified for decades by being reduced to episodes of intense interethnic violence. Even a casual conversation with people from both ethnic communities in Kamenica, Gnjilane, Šilovo and Ranilug reveals a more complex picture of mutual relations. From the perspective of ordinary people, the memory of coexistence and a common life together, mutual respect and tolerance in socialist Yugoslavia and in the aftermath of the 1999 war in Kosovo prevails over the notions about ethnic distrust and ethnically motivated violence. This project and publication by the Center for Historical Studies and Dialogue aims to study, research, and mainstream underrepresented examples of interethnic solidarity and neighbourly relations.