The Minister of Defense of North Macedonia, Vlado Misajlovski, held a memorial ceremony this morning in front of the Special Forces Battalion memorial in honor of the four members of the army killed in Vejce in 2001.
However, it is concerning that the plaque in front of which the tribute was paid labels the Albanians involved in this conflict, which began 25 years ago, as "terrorists," despite the fact that there were victims on both sides.
And even according to a REL report, on May 2, 2001, in the early morning hours of May 1, Macedonian youths organized an attack on the bazaar of the southern Macedonian city of Manastir, vandalizing and setting fire to over 40 shops and businesses owned by Albanians.
The first massacre in Bitola occurred just hours after the funeral of four local police officers who were killed in a clash with ethnic Albanian insurgents on Saturday. However, it came a day after two official statements that may have inadvertently contributed to the growing anti-Albanian atmosphere.
This language used in the memorial is considered disturbing since the parties agreed in the Ohrid Agreement that the future would not be built on hatred but on peace.
The text of the memorial translated into Albanian: People from the people, ordinary but with big hearts, heroes. Brave, just and honest, defenders of Macedonia.
They fell in the war against Albanian terrorists on 28.04.2001 in the region of the village of Vejce.
Below are the names and ranks of the fallen soldiers: Sergeant Petkovski T. Robert, Private Janovski B. Mile, Private Trajkovski A. Boban, Private Kosteski I. Igor.
