OSTOJIĆ: AMENDMENTS TO LAW ON VETERANS’ RIGHTS REPRESENT BIGGEST STEP IN STRENGTHENING VETERANS’ AND DISABILITY PROTECTION

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 19 /SRNA/ - Minister of Labor, War Veterans’ and Disabled Persons' Protection of Republika Srpska, Radan Ostojić, stated that amendments to the Law on Veterans’ Rights and new legislative solutions have brought the greatest improvement in the veterans’ and disabled persons' protection system in recent years, enabling greater rights and a more secure position for veteran categories.

Speaking on an SRNA podcast about the results of his ministry’s work, Ostojić noted that the budget for veterans’ and disabled persons' protection has been significantly increased and now amounts to BAM 618 million. “That is roughly 350 to 360 million more than three or four years ago,” Ostojić said. He emphasized that the new legislative solutions have brought concrete benefits to a large number of veterans, especially those who previously had no income at all. “The biggest step forward, if we look at these latest legislative solutions, has been made in relation to people who have no income at all. They now receive two veterans’ allowances. A first-category veteran with around 40 months of participation in the war will have an income of nearly BAM 500. That is significantly higher than the minimum pension,” Ostojić said. Ostojić stated that employment of children of fallen soldiers is the top priority, stressing that this issue should be resolved as soon as possible. He reminded that the Ministry issued a public call last year, to which more than 500 children responded. “There are between 1,500 and 1,600 children /of fallen soldiers/ registered with the employment offices, which means that one third applied. The rest are probably working other jobs, in the ‘grey zone,’ or abroad,” Ostojić said. Ostojić announced that a proposal for a special collective agreement for employees in public services, which was recently accepted by the Government of Republika Srpska, will soon be signed. “Midway through next week, we will hold a meeting with employers and the trade union on certain issues on which agreement could be reached, which will be attended by Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minić,” Ostojić said. Ostojić believes there is an objective framework to create the backbone of a general collective agreement in Republika Srpska, noting that, unfortunately, Republika Srpska has been without such an agreement for a full ten years, which represents a significant shortcoming from the perspective of both employer and worker security. A new episode of the SRNA podcast, featuring the Minister of Labor, War Veterans’ and Disabled Persons' Protection of Republika Srpska, Radan Ostojić, will be available tomorrow at 10:00 to users of our service, as well as on social media and the YouTube channel.