{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Serbs cross ethnic divide, travel to Albania to find brides' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c31ed8eafeecae15ee73' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c31ed8eafeecae15ee73' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nSerbs cross ethnic divide, travel to Albania to find brides\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eSagonjevo, 280km south of Belgrade 1. Wide of Zoran Tomic and wife Edmonda Kardaku driving a tractor 2. Mid of chicken3. Mid of Tomic and Kardaku getting off the tractor 4. Wide of house5. Mid of couple sitting on the the porch in front...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eSagonjevo, 280km south of Belgrade \u003cbr/\u003e1. Wide of Zoran Tomic and wife Edmonda Kardaku driving a tractor \u003cbr/\u003e2. Mid of chicken\u003cbr/\u003e3. Mid of Tomic and Kardaku getting off the tractor \u003cbr/\u003e4. Wide of house\u003cbr/\u003e5. Mid of couple sitting on the the porch in front of the house \u003cbr/\u003e6. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Edmonda Kardaku, married to Zoran Tomic, a Serb:\u003cbr/\u003e\"It was by chance for me, that I came here. I said my yes but never though I''d come here. But, it''s God''s will. There were others that asked and it wasn''t only Zoran, but God who sent me here.\"\u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Edmonda Kardaku, married to Zoran Tomic, a Serb:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I heard from our elders that they were at war with the Serbs in the past. But now that is all over. There is no more war.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Zoran Tomic, married to Edmonda Kardaku, an Albanian:\u003cbr/\u003e\"When I went there we could not come up with an agreement in one day. This is why I had to stay one more day to negotiate and we negotiated until late at night.\"\u003cbr/\u003e9. Cutaway of couple\u003cbr/\u003e10. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Zoran Tomic, married to Edmonda Kardaku, an Albanian:\u003cbr/\u003e\"After that I had to return (to Serbia) to apply for her visa, to buy a necklace, ring and everything that was required.\"\u003cbr/\u003e11. Cutaway of couple\u003cbr/\u003e12. Couple working in greenhouse\u003cbr/\u003e13. Couple leaving\u003cbr/\u003eSjenica, 250 km southwest of Belgrade\u003cbr/\u003e14. Wide of Momir Kovacevic, Humanitarian Foundation \"Stara Raska\" activist, working on the computer\u003cbr/\u003e15. Close up of hand\u003cbr/\u003e16. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Momir Kovacevic, Humanitarian Foundation \"Stara Raska\" activist:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We helped around 40 families with 500 euros each (when they arrived in Serbia). We, together with the officials from Belgrade, help all Albanian women who fulfil all the conditions get (Serbian) citizenship.\"\u003cbr/\u003e17. Cutaway of photograph from \"Stara Raska\" book showing Albanian women wearing t-shirts with Serbian and Albanian flags\u003cbr/\u003e18. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Momir Kovacevic, Humanitarian Foundation \"Stara Raska\" activist:\u003cbr/\u003e\"They (Serbian men) jumped over (the ethnic) barriers and decided to marry women from Skadar (in Albania).\"\u003cbr/\u003eBelgrade\u003cbr/\u003e19. Wide of Serbian Parliament building\u003cbr/\u003e20. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Gordana Comic, deputy Parliament speaker:\u003cbr/\u003e\"It''s not human trafficking if the marriage is her voluntary decision and she has the right of choice. But if someone is forcing her into the marriage, it''s a crime.\"\u003cbr/\u003e21. Women walking on the street\u003cbr/\u003e22. SOUNDBITE (Serbian) Maja Savic, NGO Atina:\u003cbr/\u003e\"We as a NGO have not had any complaints from the Albanian brides, but we definitely should pay attention to that. The government and institutions should also take responsibility to pay them a visit sometimes, to provide these women with some information, of whom they can turn to in case they find themselves in difficult situations.\"\u003cbr/\u003e23. Women walking on the street\u003cbr/\u003eNot in her wildest dreams did Edmonda ever imagine she''d marry a man like Zoran, have his baby and live in his country.\u003cbr/\u003eShe''s an Albanian Muslim, he''s an Orthodox Christian Serb - and their people have been mired in a web of ethnic and religious hatred over Kosovo''s bloody war for independence.\u003cbr/\u003eBut Edmonda Kardaku did wed Zoran Tomic last December, joining hundreds of compatriots, mostly Muslims or Roman Catholics, who have broken deep taboos by marrying men from rural Serbia, where women have been fleeing to the cities or abroad and causing an alarming population decline.\u003cbr/\u003eSerbia and Albania have been uneasy neighbours for generations. \u003cbr/\u003eBut when war exploded over ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo''s attempt to break from Serbia in the late 1990s, disdain turned to murderous rage.\u003cbr/\u003eKosovo''s 2008 independence declaration, backed by most of the international community, deepened animosities.\u003cbr/\u003eBut for both sides, it seems, sheer survival has begun to trump enmities to open the path to these unions.\u003cbr/\u003eZoran, 37, says he represents a new generation that''s free of such bigotry.\u003cbr/\u003eHe said he doesn''t intend to force his wife to change her religion.\u003cbr/\u003eAs for Edmonda, 36, ethnic divisions and the fact her marriage was arranged count for little: She says she and her husband are in love.\u003cbr/\u003e\"There were others that asked and it wasn''t only Zoran, but God who sent me here,\" the four-month pregnant Edmonda said she sat on the porch of a modest brick house in this tiny mountain village that''s reachable only by a steep, winding dirt track.\u003cbr/\u003eZoran''s long search for a bride took him from his remote community of some 12 houses in southern Serbia across the border to northern Albania. \u003cbr/\u003eHe made several trips to a village where he was introduced to dozens of women by an Albanian matchmaker.\u003cbr/\u003eHe said he didn''t like any, until he met Edmonda.\u003cbr/\u003eIt took a whole day of negotiations with her parents before they agreed to let her go, he said. \u003cbr/\u003eThe flurry of Serbian-Albanian marriages started in 2008 when a group of elderly men from southern Serbia formed a group called \"Stara Raska\" or \"Old Raska\" after their region which includes the village of Sagonjevo.\u003cbr/\u003eBoth Serbia and Albania - like most of the Balkan nations - are faced with a massive exodus of young people from rural areas in search of a better life, turning many small settlements into ghost villages. \u003cbr/\u003eThe ethnic wars in the Balkans in the 1990s accelerated the problem.\u003cbr/\u003eIn Serbia, it''s mostly women who are fleeing poverty and stagnation. \u003cbr/\u003eBut in Albania, it''s the men who are relocating, says Momir Kovacevic, an Old Raska activist, explaining why this inter-ethnic marriage arrangement works.\u003cbr/\u003eHe said his group helped arrange some 40 marriages.\u003cbr/\u003e\"They (Serbian men) jumped over (the ethnic) barriers,\" he said.\u003cbr/\u003eCurrently, there are some 8,000 pending immigration requests filed by Serb men for Albanian women they hope to marry, said a lawyer who represents Serbian minorities in Albania. \u003cbr/\u003eAbout 1,000 such marriages have taken place.\u003cbr/\u003eThe average age in Serbia is 41 years and about 20 percent of people in this country of 7 million (m) are over 65. In 370 villages not a single child was born in the past decade. \u003cbr/\u003eWith one of Europe''s lowest birthrates, the population has been declining by an average of 55,000 people a year.\u003cbr/\u003eDespite the potential birthrate boost, some Serbian nationalists are furious about the marriages. \u003cbr/\u003eThey claim that the Albanians are extending the ethnic borders of Albania by marrying Serbs and having their babies.\u003cbr/\u003eSerbian authorities have not officially condoned the Albanian-Serb marriages, apparently fearing the arrangements could be considered by some human rights groups as bordering on human trafficking or sex trade.\u003cbr/\u003e\"It''s not human trafficking if the marriage is her voluntary decision and she has the right of choice,\" said Gordana Comnic, deputy speaker of Serbia''s national parliament. \u003cbr/\u003e\"But if someone is forcing her into the marriage, it''s a crime.\"\u003cbr/\u003eSerbian rights groups dealing with human trafficking and women''s rights said so far they''ve had no complains from the Albanian brides but attention needs to be paid to them regardless. \u003cbr/\u003e\"The government and institutions should also take responsibility to pay them a visit sometimes, to provide these women with some information, of whom they can turn to in case they find themselves in difficult situations,\" said Maja Savic of the Belgrade-based Atina NGO.\u003cbr/\u003eStill, in a sign of tacit official support for the interethnic unions, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic recently granted Serbian citizenship in a televised ceremony to an Albanian women whose husband had died, leaving her alone to provide for their baby boy.\u003cbr/\u003eIn an apparent move to ease the immigration procedures for Albanian women, Serbian and Albanian authorities agreed last month for the first time to lift visa requirements and simplify residence permit procedures.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv 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