Kosovo

Kimberly Winston 6-15-2016

Prizren, Kosovo. Image via Berat Hoxha [CC BY-SA 3.0] / Wikimedia Commons

Three years ago, Joshua Stanton was walking around Peja, a Balkan city where the skyline is punctured with the dainty minarets of three historic mosques, when he decided to put on his yarmulke.

“I am Jewish,” he thought. “I want to put it on.”

Valerie Plesch 5-06-2015
Photo via Valerie Plesch / RNS

Catholics attend Christmas Eve Mass at Mother Teresa Cathedral in Pristina, Kosovo. Photo via Valerie Plesch / RNS

Under the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Kosovo from the early 15th century until 1912, most Albanian Kosovars converted to Islam.

But today, Jakaj and others are on a mission that they say reflects a renaissance of Catholicism in the country. Muslim Kosovars are supporting the effort, too, even though most of Brod is now Muslim.

“This is our history of our nation,” said Ademi, whose forefathers were Catholic.

“These are our first steps toward reclaiming our cultural heritage.”

Ryan Rodrick Beiler 11-01-2000

The movement against land mines has achieved moderate success since the mine ban treaty became international law in March 1999.

Rose Marie Berger 9-01-2000
Military role in Kosovo 'ineffective and unethical.'

Defying the assumption that Serbs and ethnic Albanians are incapable of peaceful coexistence, leaders of the religious communities of Kosovo issued a common statement for reconciliation.

While the U.S. military has spent more than $30 million on its fortress-like base in Kosovo—complete with a Burger King—Kosovars themselves are left with a war-ravaged homeland...

Rose Marie Berger 11-01-1999

Pristina, Kosovo—At the Macedonia-Kosovo border, kids on the roadside are selling Coke and fresh brown eggs.

Rose Marie Berger 11-01-1999

The war in Kosovo is over. The question now: How to build peace? Their neighbors in Bosnia might just have the beginnings of an answer.

Eugene Martin 11-01-1999

Kosovo’s peaceful leader Ibrahim Rugova has not received press attention until recently.

Duane Shank 7-01-1999
Can a peaceful future arise out of the blood and ashes of war?
David Hartsough 7-01-1999
Before the war, a vigorous nonviolent movement sought justice for Kosovo. Their call for support from the world went unheeded.
Clive Calver 7-01-1999

I saw it in their empty eyes and hollow cheeks. The ethnic Albanians pouring over the Kosovo border into Albania for refuge have seen the worst.

Pearl Sensenig 7-01-1999
Everyone wants to aid refugees. But humanitarian work in the midst of war raises some hard questions---and carries the risk of unintended consequences.
Jim Forest 7-01-1999
Contrary to popular belief, the Serbian Orthodox church has a history of resisting ultra-nationalism.
Andrew Schleicher 7-01-1999
E-mail glimpses of the Balkan war.
Repentance is lacking on all sides.
Rose Marie Berger 7-01-1999

What lessons for the future can we learn from Kosovo?

Glen H. Stassen 7-01-1999

10 principles for peacemaking in Kosovo.

Gerald Shenk 5-01-1999
The crisis in Kosovo
Rose Marie Berger 1-01-1999
Orthodox reformers forge path of peace.