Veterans continue protests in Sarajevo

Parliamentary majority representatives held a meeting in the Parliament building, where they decided to hold the extraordinary session of FBiH Parliamentary Assembly's House of Representatives, scheduled for today. The session agenda does not include the veterans' demands.

Head of the Democratic Action Party Caucus Ismet Osmanovic said that FBiH House of Representatives' Veterans' and Disability Board will meet with the veterans' representatives.

“The Law on the Veterans' Associations is in the parliamentary procedure and we are waiting for the FBiH Government to submit the Draft Law on Veterans' Rights. As soon as they do, we will convene an extraordinary session where we will discuss the said laws,” Osmanovic said.

According to N1's reporter on the scene Tina Jelin-Dizdar, the veterans' representatives entered the Parliament building to meet with the Veterans' and Disability Board, to whom they will present their demands.  

One of the veterans protesting in front of the Parliament building Nazif Velic told N1 that the FBiH Government is knowingly obstructing and deceiving the veterans. He claims that the veterans are living on the edge of poverty.

“Believe me, I am living on the edge of poverty. This group of people is living on the edge of poverty. From 1995 to date, most veterans have lost their jobs, all the factories have been destroyed, people were left to fend for themselves. Now, these people have become elderly and sick. The war has done its part, but the state hasn't done its part," Velic said.

After the meeting with the Veterans' and Disability Board, Darinko Boto, Head of the “Forgotten veterans” Association, said that they are fairly satisfied with the outcome of the talks. Interlocutors agreed that a thematic session, followed by an extraordinary session of the House of Representatives will be scheduled within the next 30 days and that their three demands will be on the agenda.

Boto added that the whole issue can be resolved fairly quickly with some political will.

 After receiving the official confirmation from the House of Representatives' Board, the veterans left the area in front of the Parliament building and froze all protests and blockades for 30 days.

The veterans demand the publication of a single war veterans' registry, the abolition of the financing of veterans' associations, and veterans' allowance. The exact date of the sessions is yet to be set.