Protest took place today, Kurti agrees to meet with veterans’ representatives

He made this statement at the session of the Assembly, while veterans were protesting outside the building, as a sign of dissatisfaction with the approval in principle of the Draft Law on the minimum wage in the Assembly, on June 14.

The draft law does not provide for the connection of the minimum wage with the veterans’ pension, as it has been in the past.

Kurti said that the Government allocates about 120 million euros for the categories that emerged from the war, and that this figure is higher than what is allocated for the security of the country.

“I do not believe that we differ in terms of respect and gratitude for KLA war veterans, we can differ in our belief in their number. This is a debate that takes place in our society, which of course also takes place in the Assembly “.

He said that he is ready to cooperate with the categories that came out of the war “to reach the real number of veterans”.

“We consider that there were more than 60,000 participants in the liberation war, but the number of UK veterans is inflated, and this is also a mistake for the history that will be taught to children in future generations, because it is something of untrue ”.

Are you protesting?

The protest started in the morning near the Assembly of Kosovo.

Minutes later, the protesters entered the yard of the Assembly, after pushing with the Kosovo Police forces, while at the entrance of this institution were positioned special units.

“These deputies who violate laws, who violate the Constitution, have no place here,” said the acting chairman of the Organization of War Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army (OVL of the KLA), Faton Klinaku, in front of the building of Assembly, calling for the withdrawal of the Draft Law.

“Because of this shame of the deputies, who did not listen to our calls not to approve the shame of the Government, we were forced to call a protest.”

The clinic is committed to sending the bill – if it enters into force – to higher instances.

“We are ready that if the law enters into force, I guarantee you that we will send it to the Constitutional Court, and we are 100 percent sure that the Constitutional Court will find that they are violating laws.”

He has also warned of other protests.

“I can freely tell you that every time these (deputies) will have sessions, we will be here.”

Protesters were heard shouting, “We want our rights” and “We want an answer.”

Although other points are planned for discussion in the session – including the point for the withdrawal of funds from the Pension Fund – the opposition deputies have started the meeting by discussing the veterans.

Rashit Qalaj, MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo said that there should be no normal meeting of the Assembly until the issue of veterans’ benefits is resolved.

“Today we should all feel ashamed, but especially those who were against the involvement of veterans in receiving benefits in the amount of the minimum wage. Have we forgotten all those who left their limbs so that we can be here today? ” Qalaj asked.

Arben Gashi from the Democratic League of Kosovo, said that the Government has failed to have a fruitful dialogue with veterans.

“A vital important and contributing part for the freedom of the country, is in protest outside the Assembly today, and this for mistakes of the Government. “It’s unworthy of war veterans being treated this way.”

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo has requested the suspension of the session and the start of dialogue with veterans.

Meanwhile, the opposition deputies have blocked the rostrum of the Assembly, preventing the continuation of the session.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, then requested a meeting with the heads of the parliamentary groups of the parties in the Assembly, as it was impossible to continue the session.

The head of the PDK Parliamentary Group, Abelard Tahiri, told the protesters that the party he comes from will not allow the session to continue without reaching a solution for the veterans, and demanded that their pension be determined in line with the minimum wage. .

He has demanded that the Government, the Committee on Budget and Finance and the veterans hold a joint meeting to discuss the issue.

Why these dissatisfactions?

The approved draft law envisages the increase of the minimum wage to 264 euros gross, or 250 euros net, from 130-170 as it is currently.

If approved in the second reading as it is, veterans will continue to receive a pension worth 170 euros.

The veterans have demanded that this Draft Law not be approved even in a protest they held in front of the Assembly on June 6.

The draft law approved in principle was also opposed by opposition parties in Kosovo, being considered discriminatory against veterans.

Until 2017, the veterans’ pension could not be less than the minimum wage in Kosovo, respectively 170 euros. This, at the same time, continues to be the amount they receive.

The Government of Kosovo has said that they are not against the increase of the veterans’ pension, but first their list must be confirmed.

From the Kosovo Institute of Justice and the Organization for Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity, “Çohu” have estimated that without completing the court process related to the case “Veterans”, the cleaning of the list of veterans can not be done.

The Court of Appeals, on April 26, 2022, returned for retrial the case known as “Veterans”.

The indictment filed by the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo, which was confirmed by the Basic Court in Pristina, on June 19, 2019, raised the suspicion that 19,500 people were granted veteran status illegally.

Xhevdet Qeriqi from the Organization of Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army, told Radio Free Europe days ago that this organization has discussed the “inflated lists” with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti in two meetings, in June last year and in May of this year.

“(This topic) was discussed in both meetings and steps should be taken in this direction. But, in fact they are not acting in this direction, his exclusive competence is to take decisions to clear these lists. We have expressed the readiness for cooperation for everything, but apart from the statements, there is no concrete step that the Prime Minister and the Government are expected to take in this direction “, declared Qeriqi.

When in 2017 the article of the Law on War Veterans was repealed, which provided that the veteran’s pension should not be lower than the minimum wage, it was supplemented with the article that provided for the categorization of veterans – depending on the years engaged in the KLA – which so far has not happened.

Currently, according to official data from the Government of Kosovo, 53,188 persons have the status of War Veteran, while, according to the data of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, 37,006 are beneficiaries of the scheme for war veterans.

At noon, protesters who demanded the withdrawal of funds from the Pension Savings Fund joined the veterans’ organization.

This request, for the withdrawal of up to 30 percent of the funds, was initially made by the opposition entity, the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

The International Monetary Fund has spoken out against another withdrawal of the Trust’s assets.

A similar withdrawal of up to 10 percent was made in 2020, after the deterioration of the financial situation of families, due to the pandemic caused by the coronavirus./REL

top channel