”The representatives of veterans’ association were seemingly happy after the meeting, because for the first time they were treated as they deserve to be treated” said Nermin Bise, a representative of the Council of counsel.
“We finally got the treatment that we deserve. The resolution of what we were trying to adopt is starting to be realized, this is confirmed by today’s conclusions,” said Bise.
The Minister of the Sarajevo Canton Government for Veterans Muharem Fišo stressed that it is necessary to have a single registry of fighters, but before that we should make a revision of the lists of those who receive veteran supplements, where there are about 200,000 people.
However, the main topic of the meeting was the status of demobilized soldiers because of how the Law on the Rights of Veterans and Members of Their Families of 2010 states that demobilized soldiers do not have laws to protect them.
“The fighters first pointed out the need to create a registry of fighters. That is why the Ministry of Labour FBiH forwarded to the Parliamentary procedure a decision which will finally regulate the creation of a single register of fighters,” said Minister Bukvarević.
In the next 30 days all cantonal assemblies must declare on the draft law on veterans’ associations
“The new law on the rights of veterans and their family members will be aligned with the health care of all veterans and their family members, regardless of whether the employer paid contributions or not. 60 year-old fighters, who have no other income, will have the right to a cash benefit of 25 per cent of the average wage in the Federation, then an additional payment for those who need up to five years to retirement. In addition, within the new law it is defined that members of the MUP during the war were part of the armed forces of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, “concluded Bukvarević.
If the requests of the Veteran Association are fulfilled, they will not protest for their rights anymore. The timeframe for today’s defined conclusions is 60 days.
(Source: Klix.ba/Photo: nezavisne.com)
