Veterans, think of yourselves; those on the other side of the fence have long deceived you and will do so again!

Written by A. Čorbo-Zećo

The three-day deadline given by a group of demobilised veterans of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Federal Government led by Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and the relevant minister Salko Bukvarević to meet their demands is expiring.

The veterans have stated that they will cordon off and not allow access to the tent settlement in front of the Government where they are staying, if their demands are not met. At the same time, they are deeply aware that they have no real interlocutor in the Government. Had the ruling oligarchy been honest with the veterans of the Army of RBiH, these brave men would not be in front of the Government building today, risking their lives and causing great worry to their families.

Let us recall, the demobilised veterans began a hunger strike several days ago. They demand that the Federal Government and the relevant minister establish a unified register of veterans, introduce a veteran's allowance for all former veterans who are unemployed or without a pension, and stop the funding of veteran associations, of which there are 1,600 in the Federation.

The relevant minister stated that he knows there are people in real need, and that over the next five years he wants to redirect 100 million KM to veterans in need of assistance, but that he cannot meet the veterans' conditions immediately.

If the minister is aware that the authorities are wrong, as he told the veterans, what has been waited for until now, and why must someone go hungry and endanger their health to start a discussion about a unified register of veterans and a fairer redistribution of money!?

If, by any chance, these veterans in front of the Government demanding their rights had died defending the country and the people in the past aggression, today the hypocrites from both politics and the people would visit their graves and pay tribute, raise hypocritical hands and recite the Fatiha.

The truth was recently spoken by one of the veterans, who said: “like this, as living dead, we are of no interest to anyone.”

“They cannot visit us alive and, as if, recite Fatihas and collect cheap political points on us, shedding crocodile tears down our backs and reading heart-wrenching speeches composed for them by other people. Die… then we will remember you,” said one of the veterans.

The veterans must be deeply aware that hypocrites circle around them and that their struggle does not touch them.

By haggling over dates when the funding of associations will stop, the supposed concern for those gathered does not diminish the truth that the authorities are “digging” with both hands and feet to discover who is behind the protesters. They say they have never had such a tough nut to crack. It is incomprehensible that the minister and the prime minister have not yet realised that these are the toughest nuts... These are people from the front lines, who defended this country. There are none tougher!

Novalić says there are no new funds, but the veterans in front of the Government are not asking for the new millions that Bukvarević and Novalić talk about. They only seek a fairer redistribution of the 650 million KM that the Federation currently allocates for the so-called veteran population.

Dates are also being haggled over regarding the adoption of the veteran law, and Novalić says that even before these people came to the Government, they submitted to Parliament both the Law on Representativeness and the Law defining the register of veteran associations.

All that, in translation, means – demobilised veterans, your effort is in vain – there is no majority, no law, no dissolution of associations...

The prime minister and the relevant minister simply cannot understand that those who built and defended BiH do not want to destroy the state. Or they are aware that publishing the register of those receiving state benefits as veterans would mean less support and fewer votes for the current authorities. The veterans are ready to destroy such a state. Publishing the register of veterans is not in the interest only of those who added relatives and future voters to the veteran lists. It is certain that this will be stopped, but the veterans must remain sober. And they should think of themselves, just as those on the other side of the fence do.