Shaip Kamberi, the representative of Albanians in the Serbian Parliament, announced on Wednesday that he has submitted a request for the establishment of a special parliamentary commission to investigate the cases of deaths of Albanian soldiers in the then Yugoslav army during the 1980s.
Kamberi made this request to the Speaker of the Serbian Parliament, Ana Brnabić, at a time when Serbia is preparing to restore compulsory military service in the country.
In the request, Kamberi emphasizes that in the Presevo Valley there is concern about the possible call-up of young Albanians to perform military service, "as the past and its consequences still affect the collective consciousness of Albanians."
In a statement on his Facebook account, Kamberi demanded clarification of the deaths of 135 Albanian soldiers in the ranks of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) during the 1980s, Radio Free Europe reports.
"Many of these cases, recorded as 'suicides', 'accidents' or 'disciplinary violations', were considered suspicious by the victims' families, who often reported signs of violence on the returned bodies," Kamberi said.
He said that the lack of independent investigations and transparency into those killings has strengthened their belief that “we are dealing with ethnically and politically motivated killings, at a time when Albanians in the JNA faced discrimination, stigmatization and open hostility.”
"This phenomenon has remained silent and undocumented in public discourse in Serbia, reflecting a serious lack of confronting the past and institutional discrimination against Albanians," he stressed.
Kamberi emphasized that the commission, if approved, would also include representatives of civil society and the Albanian community.
The return of compulsory military service in Serbia
According to Kamberi, the return of compulsory service raises concerns among Albanians in the Presevo Valley due to "painful historical experiences in discriminatory treatment and tragedies suffered in the past by young Albanians who were serving in the JNA."
More than 60,000 Albanians live in Serbia, making up the fourth largest minority there, according to the last population census in 2022.
Albanians in the Presevo Valley – a term used for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, municipalities inhabited by Albanians in southern Serbia – constantly complain of discrimination.
In international reports, the Presheva Valley is considered completely isolated and is said to receive attention only during election times.
Serbian authorities began work on reinstating compulsory military service last year. Last summer, the Serbian government said that compulsory military service, which was abolished on January 1, 2011, would be reinstated in 2025.
This week, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, Milan Mojsilović, said the country has not given up on the return of compulsory military service, but added that intensive preparations are underway.
According to him, considerable funds have been invested to renovate the barracks and purchase equipment. He added that the next step will be “to adapt the legal framework to what we want, 75 days of military service,” and it seems that the Serbian Parliament will adopt a law on this issue. /REL/
