In 2015, we drove through much of Kosovo and overnighted in Prizren, a quaint and attractive historic city located on the banks of the Bistrica river, and on the slopes of the Šar Mountains in the southern part of Kosovo.
After World War II, Kosovo became part of Serbia. However, in 1981, riots broke out and were violently suppressed. In the late 1980s, Slobodan Milosevic made himself leader in Belgrade by exploiting the fears of the Serbian minority in Kosovo. In 1989, he eliminated Kosovo’s autonomy and ruled it from Belgrade, relegating most ethnic Albanians, in favor of the Serbs. In response, Kosovo Albanian leaders began a peaceful resistance movement in the early 1990s, creating their own government. When this movement failed the Kosovo Liberation Army began seeking the independence of Kosovo. Milosevic unleashed a brutal police and military campaign against the KLA, which included widespread atrocities against civilians. A brutal war ensued until the United authorized a NATO peacekeeping force to ensure peace.
