Government initiates drafting of law on rights of demobilized veterans

(Patria) - The Government of the Federation of BiH, at today's emergency session in Mostar, accepted the report of the Working Group for harmonizing the Proposal of the Law on the Rights of Demobilized Veterans and Members of Their Families, which was established on March 13, 2019, based on the conclusion of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH from February 28, 2019.

The Federal Ministry for Veterans and Disabled Veterans of the Defense-Liberation War is tasked with obtaining the necessary opinions for the Draft Law on the Rights of Demobilized Veterans and Members of Their Families in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Federation of BiH and to submit the consolidated text for opinions to the cantonal assemblies, as it is a shared competence of the federal and cantonal authorities, with a deadline for submitting opinions of 30 days.

This ministry is also tasked with, after receiving the opinions, submitting the Draft of this law to the Government of BiH for consideration. The law prescribes the realization of rights at all levels of government (municipality, city, canton, Federation), and for its implementation, financial resources in the amount of 50,000,000 KM on an annual basis are necessary.

An analysis of the situation of demobilized veterans and members of their families through the systemic records of the Employment Bureau, PIO/MIO, IDEEA, and records available to the Federal Ministry determined that around 20,000 demobilized veterans in need could exercise the right under this law. The law stipulates that one month of participation in the armed forces amounts to five KM, while the average monthly cash compensation would be around 200 KM.

"If the number of beneficiaries is higher than the estimated number, the Government of the Federation of BiH will, by its decision, determine the amount of the payment coefficient quarterly. The start of the application of the Law is planned for October 1, 2019. Otherwise, at today's session, it was once again emphasized that the text of this law is fully supported by all veterans' associations, parliamentary committees, as well as representatives of governmental and non-governmental institutions, and all political parties that participated in its drafting," it was announced from the Government of the Federation of BiH.