Vidovdan celebrations in Kosovo – between religious ritual and political provocations

On June 28, the Serbs celebrate Vidovdan – a date of historical and religious significance that commemorates the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. This holliday, which mainly takes place in Gazimestan near Pristina, has often been used for provocations and to spread chauvinistic messages.

It was not uncommon for participants to use the holiday to send nationalist messages and provocations against Albanians. Flags, symbols and slogans reminiscent of past conflicts raise concerns about the misuse of historical events for political purposes.

Although Vidovdan is considered a day of remembrance and spirituality, extremist elements continue to use it to stir up tensions – at a time when dialog and coexistence are more important than ever.

Recent academic studies in the West, such as those by Prof. Dr. Oliver Jens Schmitt, one of the most renowned German-speaking historians at the University of Vienna, deconstruct the claims and myths of Serbian history about the Kosovo myth and Serbian-Ottoman relations in the early phase of Ottoman rule in the Balkans. Schmitt argues that the Serbs provided crucial assistance to the Ottomans in the conquest of the Balkans and were among the peoples who cooperated most closely with the Ottoman court. He thus refutes the previous claim that they were the only victims of this invasion, while other peoples were their collaborators and supporters. In this sense, the myth of the Battle of Kosovo Campaign also appears politicized and unstable.

The Serbs turned the battle into a symbol of “sacrifice for homeland and religion” and glorified the defeat as a moral victory. Prince Lazar was canonized and Kosovo was portrayed as a “Holy Land”.

In the 20th century, especially during the reign of Slobodan Milošević, the battle served to justify Serbian claims to Kosovo as the “cradle of the Serbian state and the Serbian religion”.

The Serbian narrative portrayed the battle as an exclusive conflict between “Christian Serbs” and “Muslim Ottomans”.

Battle of Kosovo and the myth of Vidovdan – History as a tool of serbian expansionism

/The Geopost/