Amendments to the Law on Additional Rights of Fighters-Defenders of BiH Adopted

(Patria) - In order to improve the status of the defender population of Sarajevo Canton, and the rights enjoyed by members of this category, today, under an expedited procedure at the 14th regular session of the KS Assembly, the Proposal for Amendments and Additions to the Law on Additional Rights of Fighters-Defenders of Bosnia and Herzegovina was unanimously adopted.

As explained, these are substantive changes that primarily concern the realization of the right to a monetary existential allowance and its increase. In this regard, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Omer Osmanović, stated that these amendments align the rights of defenders under 57 years of age in Sarajevo Canton with federal regulations.

“The most significant change in the proposal of this law relates to the increase in the amount of the monthly existential allowance for our defenders under 57 years of age, where we have specified the harmonization, i.e., the growth of the base in the manner prescribed in the Federation of BiH. I would like to note here that the amount will be determined each year by a decision of the Government of Sarajevo Canton, upon the proposal of the minister, applying a coefficient for calculation in accordance with available budget funds, whereby this amount can be higher than the amount determined at the federal level. Also, we are increasingly encountering situations where our demobilized defenders are engaged on a fixed-term basis through employment programs implemented by the Sarajevo Canton Employment Service, thereby losing the right to a monthly existential allowance, given that it was stipulated that to exercise the right, they must be registered with the employment service for the previous year. Amendments to this law stipulate that their rights in case of employment on a fixed-term basis will be 'frozen', meaning they will be able to continue their right to a monthly existential allowance immediately after the termination of their employment. I hope that with these amendments, we have managed to restore the dignity of our defenders, and we will certainly continue to work on improving their rights in the future,” emphasized Minister Osmanović.

As already stated, the Proposal for Amendments and Additions to the Law on Additional Rights of Fighters-Defenders of Bosnia and Herzegovina was unanimously adopted by the deputies in the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton, and it will enter into force eight days after its publication in the Official Gazette. It is expected that the increased amount will be applied from the April monthly allowance.