Albania

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Boro Kitanoski

According to a report in the Southeast European Times from 21 August 2008, Albania is to abolish conscription completely by 2010. From 1 January 2010, Albania will no longer have compulsory military service. The initiative is part of the reforms required by NATO, which the country hopes to join after meeting the Alliance's requirements.

Conscription

Conscription is included in Article 166 of the 1998 Constitution. It is further regulated by the Law on Military Service in the Armed Forces (7526/1991), Law 7978/1995 and the Law on Military Service (9047/2003).[1]

The length of military service is 12 months, and 6 months for university graduates.[2]

All men between the ages of 19 and 32 are liable for military service. Reservist obligations apply up to the age of 55.[3]

Rebuilding Kosov@ and the FRY: resource pages

This page contains links to WRI resources on former-Yugoslavia, with a focus on the Kosovo crisis and on resistance to militarism in Serbia/Montenegro.

Five Albanian students of the Belgrade University (Petrit Berisha, Driton Berisha, Dritan Meca, Derguti Shkodran and Abdulah Islam) have been in pre trail confinement since the middle of April 1999, when they were arrested in Belgrade. They are charged with "terrorism and banding for hostile activity".

Representatives of some of the main anti-war groups in former-Yugoslavia met in St Johan, Salzburg, Austria this April. One of the documents they produced was an Open Letter to Peace Movements, written in a private capacity, rather than in the name of their groups.