“There are soldiers sleeping well after the war:x1> Veterians remain without psycho-social rehabilitation

He and his friend of war were expected to face Serb forces. Although not sufficiently armed, they had come to the defense of thousands of refugees sheltered at the time in Shala.

An extraordinary feeling when you're expecting an enemy. I don't know if it's going to come up with cars, tanks or what... And you're alone with a rifle and a few rounds of”, Shala tells Radio Free Europe.

After a time of waiting, he left for Shala's Greeca, met another soldier and settled near the place known as the Nagu of the Ring, along with other soldiers.

He believes that from the resistance of soldiers to the front line, civilians gathered at Shala that day were saved.

This was not the first time Shala had taken arms in her hands, ready to die. At the time of only 23 years, Shala shows how she was forced to think death several times.

But, he says, more than his life, the lives of civilians in the village mattered to him. His sense of responsibility prevented him from sleeping in peace at night, as he was listening to a crack, screaming, noise...

There's no one who's been comfortable any night. Since then, I don't think there are KLA soldiers who get a good sleep because of the maximum concentration we should have during the” war, says Shala, over 25 years later.

Shala contributed to the KLA mainly in logistics, as in recruiting new soldiers. A few days after the war ended, he lost one leg after falling into the mines, while, along with other KLA members, he was trying to isolate several areas.

Then, the post-war part has been more difficult, especially for those of us who have lost limbs. We had to get back together once more, gather the physical and psychological forces to get back on foot again, he says.

For Shala, recovery didn't take long. He began his studies of professors at the Faculty of Philosophy immediately, and in 2001 he was employed as a teacher of psychology. In these books, he found the help he needed.

A psychological advice is like giving you a lot of money... can often solve your problem”, he says.

But for his war associates, Shala has often experienced disappointment when she sees them weighed down emotionally because of problems in finding shelter, money, or work.

His younger brother, who was also part of the KLA, was forced to emigrate because of poor conditions.

Shala says there are veterans who committed suicide, as a result of problems that emerged after the war.

We, after the war, have had no branches of psychology at the University of Pristina, have had individuals to deal with these individuals. The biggest aid has been the” family, Shala says.

Since 2015, 1998/99 war veterans in Kosovo who have been unemployed receive a 170-euro monthly pension.

According to Kosovo Government data, the status of veteran fighter is over 53 thousand people, while according to data from the Kosovo Statistics Agency, nearly 37 thousand are benefiting from war veterans' schemes.

But they were not offered any free service to deal with the traumas experienced during the war.

Neither the Ministry of Labour and Social Management nor the Health Ministry responded to the REL's interest in the subject.

The establishment of the Posttraumatic Stress Centre for the KLA veterans was preceded by the Law on the Veterans, adopted in 2014. A decade later, however, the foundation of this center was not realized.

The next day's “has remained only on paper”, says Gevdet Qeriki, chairman of the Kosovo branch of the War Invalid Association for REL.

He says, since the post-war, there are about 100 veterans who committed suicide. Data concerning the psycho-social problems of recent war veterans in Kosovo does not.

One of the few related studies published by psychiatrist Ramadan Halimi in 2015 found that 52.6 percent of veterans involved in the study suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (ÇSPT).

According to the American Psychiatric Association, CSPT is a <x0.0 psychiatric disorder that can appear in people who have experienced a traumatic event” and manifested by “thoughts and intense and disturbing feelings related to their experience and that last even after the end of the traumatic” event.

In the study, titled “psycho-social characteristics of Kosovo war veterans”, Halimi also noted high levels of risk for suicide, hatred and the desire for revenge.

We don't know what this problem is actually saying. And when we don't know, we just see the edge of the glacier. Just showing an event like Banjsca's. Armed attack on the north of Kosovo in 2023, or a war in the vicinity, to remind them of the trauma and to resurface problems”, Halimi says of the REL.

He says that there are now enough clinic psychologists in Kosovo that could treat veterans suffering from mental health problems.

“We haven't had regular armies like in other countries in the world. There have been no proper training, proper supply, soldiers have had only to protect themselves or a friend, but also the displaced population and family. Psychological pressure on them has been greater than in other armies in the world”, he adds.

And despite saying that expectations for KLA soldiers to face mental health problems have been high, for a long time it has been stigma that has led them to hesitate to receive psychological services.

It's the mentality that if you're scared, you're not a man. If you're afraid, all the man you've done is question him. This has lasted the period until aid has been sought”, Halimi says.

In the absence of a specialised and free psychological service for veterans, they have often found support in each other, says former member of KLA, Shala.

There are soldiers, so they don't even know the difference between ages. They simply feel proud to have contributed to their country”, he says. /Radio Free Europe/