The Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton last night unanimously adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Supplementary Rights of Veterans/Defenders of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs of the Canton of Sarajevo Omer Osmanović explained that compensation for funeral/burial expenses of veterans/defenders is determined by a decision of the Government at least once a year, at the proposal of the Minister, in accordance with the available budget funds.
“The basis for adjusting this compensation is three average net salaries earned in the previous year, which is the highest amount allocated for these purposes in the entire BiH. We took into account the real costs, which are not at all small, so the amount of compensation cannot be less than those earned in the previous year,” explains Osmanović.
The adopted amendments also include a new form of allocating funds to address material needs, as assistance to suspects and accused former members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and their families in war crimes cases until the verdict becomes final. Such assistance was previously paid on the basis of a special program of the Cantonal Government, and with the amendments to the Law, this will now also be regulated by law.
These amendments also stipulate that funds for the sustainable return of former Bosnian war veterans can be specifically directed to sustainable return projects nominated by returnee municipalities and institutions. The previous concept of this assistance was not sufficiently specified in the Law, so these funds often remained unspent due to a small number of applications. In this way, the Sarajevo Canton wants to help returnee communities, it was emphasized in the discussion during the adoption of these amendments.
The Law on Amendments to the Law on Social Protection, Protection of Civilian Victims of War and Protection of Families with Children refers to changes in the method of calculating maternity benefits, which has so far been linked to the average federal salary.
With the adopted amendments, it will now be linked to the minimum salary, which has been 1,000 BAM since the beginning of this year, with the determination of a special coefficient that will be determined by the Sarajevo Canton Government in accordance with available budget revenues.
Through the discussion, it was concluded that, due to cases of different application of this right in municipalities, it is necessary to pay attention to how this right is applied in the field, with constant revision, so that there are no deviations or inconsistencies in its application.
It was also stated that with these changes, mothers have no reason to doubt or fear in exercising this right, and that their corresponding compensation will not be reduced or denied, the Protocol and Press Service of the Canton Sarajevo announced.
