The Vice President of the Organization of Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army War (OVL-UCK), Fatmir Sopi, spoke about the challenges and demands of veterans, the addressing of which he said is being hindered by the lack of institutions.
One of their demands, Sopi said, is the approval of the Law on War Values.
"There are no valid institutions, everyone is an acting president, from the acting president to the last one, of the previous legislature, which was dissolved, we have addressed our demands, which are basic for veterans. One of our demands has been the swift adoption of the law on war values. The adoption of such a law would stop the insults, the masquerade that takes place whether on social networks, in the media, or in public. Another demand, which we have submitted to the parliament, which is now non-functional, is that the veteran's salary be urgently returned at least to the level that was linked to the minimum wage in Kosovo," said Sopi.
Sopi also added that other challenges are health and economic. According to him, the state has not done enough.
"Veterans since the war have faced a variety of challenges, including health, economic, and survival challenges. After the war, a large part of them had close families and children, even before the war, but the rest have married, started families, and have naturally faced various challenges, especially of an economic nature. Therefore, the state has not done enough, considering that veterans today enjoy support, social assistance, where at a certain stage, our parliament in cooperation with the Serbian List voted not to include support for veterans in the minimum wage and to remove it from that minimum wage, which is now already 500 euros, while the support for war veterans is 204 euros," Sopi told Ekonomia Online.
Sopi criticized the legal changes, which, according to him, separated veterans' pensions from the minimum wage.
Regarding the ongoing trial in The Hague against the former KLA leaders, he described it as an undeserved drama. Meanwhile, regarding the final verdict against the KLA four, which is scheduled for September 16, he said that they are awaiting an acquittal.
"We are now awaiting the verdict of that court, which we believe should be an acquittal for the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, because they are innocent, because they have only fought a just war and liberated their country. Therefore, any other decision is contrary to international justice, is contrary to our liberation war and is contrary to the aspirations of our people to be part of Free Europe," said Sopi.
Sopi estimates that Kosovo institutions could have done more to support the former KLA leaders in The Hague.
"It is never enough to do for those people while they are in The Hague, I am convinced that our country could have done much more, as we have been engaged as an organization of veterans, who have also played the role of diplomats, meeting with ambassadors of friendly countries who are in our country, sending letters and requests to the European Parliament, sending requests to all members of the European Parliament, to deal with this issue, to simply deal with that court, which for us is unjust, more political than justice would be served," he said.
However, the vice president of OVL-UCK said that they are convinced that the court will not fall prey to fraud, but will make the right decision.