The Supreme Court repeals the article that limited the right of KLA veterans to receive pensions

2025-10-28 17:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Supreme Court repeals the article that limited the right of KLA veterans to

The Supreme Court of Kosovo on Tuesday repealed an article of an administrative instruction, which required Kosovo Liberation Army veterans to present evidence that they were not in a working relationship in order to benefit from a pension.

Administrative Instruction No. 01/2025 of the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers (MFLT) had established as a condition that veterans, in order to benefit from financial compensation, had to prove with a document from the Kosovo Tax Administration that they were not employed.

The Supreme Court has ruled that this condition is illegal, because the current law, Article 16A, paragraph 5, does not prohibit veterans who are employed in the private sector from benefiting from a pension.

According to the law, only those employed in public institutions or public enterprises, i.e. those paid from the state budget, are excluded from the benefit.

The KLA War Veterans Organization, which had sued the Ministry for this instruction, welcomed the Supreme Court's decision in a post on Facebook.

" This decision is a victory for justice and the law, because it restores to the country an injustice done to many veterans who, despite being employed in the private sector, were denied their legal rights to benefit from the compensation scheme ," said this organization.

The Supreme Court said that, during the review of the law on the status and rights of martyrs, invalids, veterans, members of the Kosovo Liberation Army and their family members, it assessed that the recent amendments and supplements to the law have created "legal ambiguity and confusion" regarding the existence or non-existence of an employment relationship as a criterion for obtaining the legal right to financial compensation.

" In this regard, the Court has interpreted Article 16A, paragraph 5 of the amended law, which stipulates that: KLA war veterans who work outside institutions paid from the Kosovo budget, as well as outside public enterprises, shall enjoy a uniform amount of up to 50% of the foreseen amount, but which in total shall not exceed 0.7% of the Gross Domestic Product ," the decision states.

The court ruled that the right to benefit from this legal category does not depend on the existence of the employment relationship in general, but on the nature of the employer and the source of financing the salary, that is, whether or not that source is the state budget.

She asked the Ministry to repeal or harmonize with the content of the amended law of 2017 the administrative instruction of 2015, regarding the condition that a veteran not be in an employment relationship to benefit from compensation.

Veterans of the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, who are unemployed, have been receiving a monthly pension since 2015.

According to state data, out of about 46 thousand registered veterans, about 37 thousand benefit from a pension of 204 euros.

According to the Law on KLA War Veterans, there are six categories of veterans: war invalid, combat veteran, internee, member, war participant, and missing KLA soldier.

According to the same law, only those who have the status of KLA veteran fighter are entitled to pensions and additional benefits, while other categories only receive benefits provided for by law./ REL