General Vladimir Lazarević — The Commander Who Held Kosovo

The defence of Košare did not unfold in isolation — it was part of a broader, well-organised defence of Kosovo and Metohija led by the Priština Corps of the Yugoslav Army. At the head of that corps stood General Vladimir Lazarević, an officer who through the seventy-eight days of the NATO aggression held the defence of the southern Serbian province.

An Officer with the Hardest Task

Vladimir Lazarević was appointed commander of the Priština Corps at the end of December 1998, at a moment when the situation in Kosovo and Metohija was growing ever more tense. At the time of the Battle of Košare and the NATO aggression of 1999 he held the rank of major general; he was promoted to the rank of colonel general later, at the end of 2000.

The Priština Corps, under the command of General Lazarević, was part of the 3rd Army of the Yugoslav Army and bore the main burden of the defence of Kosovo and Metohija. Under his responsibility fell all the units deployed in the province, including the border battalions and mechanized brigades that defended Košare.

Defence Under the Bombs

The task facing General Lazarević was exceptionally difficult. His units had to defend the border against a ground offensive from Albanian territory and at the same time survive under the constant strikes of the NATO air force, which dominated the skies.

Despite the enemy's technological superiority, the Priština Corps remained an organised and combat-capable force to the end of the war. The army withdrew from Kosovo and Metohija only after the Kumanovo Agreement, as the result of a political decision, leaving the province in organised columns, with its weapons and equipment — and not as a broken army.

Košare Under His Command

The units that fought at Košare — the 53rd Border Battalion, the 125th Mechanized Brigade, the 63rd Paratrooper and 72nd Special brigades — all operated within the zone of responsibility of the Priština Corps. The defence of this axis carried a strategic significance: to prevent an enemy breakthrough into the depth of Metohija toward Đakovica and Prizren.

The fact that throughout the entire battle the enemy never managed to break through the second line of defence and reach the valley bears witness to the firmness of the defence organised by the corps under Lazarević's command.

His Fate After the War

After the war, General Lazarević was among the officers of the Yugoslav Army whose role in the conflict in Kosovo was the subject of judicial proceedings before the International Criminal Tribunal. Upon his return to Serbia, he was welcomed by part of the public as a soldier who had defended his country.

For many Serbs, General Vladimir Lazarević remained a symbol of an officer who, in the hardest days, stood at the head of the defence of Kosovo and Metohija — a man who did not abandon his units and his duty. The defence of Košare is part of the legacy of that defence. Lest it be forgotten.