War veterans in FBiH have announced protests on several locations across FBiH, however FBiH Police Administration Director Dragan Lukac said the protests were not announced, officially.
“There are no official announcements of any such gathering. If such a thing does happen, it will be considered illegal. Any public gathering on a public area must be announced to competent institutions. Without the approval of competent institutions, such a gathering will be considered illegal and prohibited,” Lukac said.
However, a group of war veterans had gathered in front of the Parliament building of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity and on M-17 Žepce-Zenica highway, at Donja Golubinja settlement. More than 50 veterans blocked the Šišicki Brod loop near Tuzla, but only shortly. They said they do not wish to harm their own citizens and disrupt their movement, but that this was a warning to FBiH authorities.
On the other hand, after gathering at Donja Golubinja, veterans decided to block the M-17 highway at exactly 12:00 pm. Trafic at Bijaca border crossing had also been blocked by veterans.
N1 reporter said that traffic jams at M-17 highway and at M-16.2 Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje-Prozor highway, at Karamustafici settlement, were several kilometers long.
After exactly one hour, veterans ended the blockade at M-17 highway, re-enabling normal traffic flow. At 13:45 pm, M16.2 was also unblocked. Some time after 15:00 pm Bijaca border crossing was also unblocked.
Veterans protesting in fromt of FBiH Parliament building also left at around 15:00 pm. Police said they did not record a single incident during the protests.
FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalic commented on the protests saying that FBiH Government's capabilities concerning the veterans’ demands have not changed, despite the fact that they blocked several highways across FBiH.
He said that there are several possible measures which could contribute to the resolution of veterans’ demands which could be included in the new Law on Veterans’ Affairs, to be discussed by FBiH Government very soon.
“When it comes to the veterans’ registry, it has already been made and cantons have to fill out their information, which should be done by the end of this month. However, the question remains who will publish it, because the Law on the Protection of Personal Information prohibits its publication,” Novalic said.
He added that any future blockade of roads and highways will not be tolerated.
The veterans’ demands are: publication of a single war veterans’ registry, abolition of the financing of veterans’ associations, and veterans’ allowence.
