KLA veterans threaten protests unless their pensions increase

The law adopted in 2014, respectively, envisions the amount of pensions for these categories, where it was decided not to be smaller than the minimum wage set in Kosovo.

Although, according to government officials Kurti 2, Article 18 of this law has been abolished in 2017 with legal amendments to the veterans' law, with this change is not expected to increase pensions for these categories.

KLA War Veterans Organisation Chairman Faton Klinku has no knowledge of these legal changes.

He claims for Kosovo that the Law clearly specifys that veterans cannot get pensions smaller than the minimum wage, and as he emphasises if the law is changed, veterans will organise protests.

It can't be split, because by law it's projected that the veteran has pension no less than minimum wage. As minimum wage increases in Kosovo, so does veteran pension... No one had to change the law. Government's up to minimum wage. The law doesn't change government, but the Assembly... The law says the veteran can't get a pension smaller than the minimum wage... If the law changes, veterans protest to the government. Why change it, the veterans themselves, if they have to suffer in this direction or the consequences? But no one has said that they will change the” law, Klink says.

On this issue, two former ministers of finance -- currently opposition deputies -- are seeking clarification from the Kurti Government for an additional cost of 36m euros, including veterans' pensions.

Former PDK Finance Minister Bedri Hamza, who is not familiar with legal changes, says the minimum wage increase is welcome, but adds that this will have additional costs, as he says affects the veterans' law.

The minimum wage raise has promised you something else, now say you will raise to 250 euros. Well, that's good, but this prime minister Kurti, has additional indirect costs that it affects other 36m euros on an annual basis. You don't have”, Hamza says.

Even former Finance Minister Hykmete Bajrami has sought to know whether veterans' fees will increase to 250 euros.

Whether to raise the salary to 250 euros per month when this will be done. Will the payment of the veins increase, and when? Even veterans and citizens, especially those employed in the private sector that are around 240 thousand, are waiting when this decision will come into force”, Bajrami says.

On the other hand, they have been reacted to by Finance, Labour and Transfers Minister Iron Murati, who says he has discovered a paradox by the former LDK-PDK government (2017), which according to him has abolished Article 18 of the Law for veterans called at the minimum wage.

Minister Murati hints there will be no increase in these pensions under the minimum wage growth.

“to introduce even one paradox was said that the minimum wage is low, which is set by 250 euros, should be higher, and at the same time say that the minimum sãobon wage is to become 250 euros that it is related to veterans' payments, it also has to increase expenses. That was even said by two former finance ministers. It is strange how these two former ministers, one from PDK and the other from LDK, do not have information about which laws are in place and which articles are in power which they are not. Where they were in the government, they have even abolished the same article that was called on the minimum wage for veterans. It's Article 18 of the KLA War veterans Law that was abolished in 2017 by the government P DK-LDK. It was introduced by your government at the same time, so it's very serious when we have such former ministers, now MPs, who make such assumptions and make criticisms from such positions without having all information”, Murati says.

The law on veterans went into effect in 2014, while legal changes were made in late 2016, while it was published in 2017 in the official newspaper.

Currently, over 30,000 war veterans receive pensions from the state budget or over 60m euros annually. For this category, there has been a court process.