Serbia Promises Hunger-Striking War Veterans Benefits

Representatives of the war veterans agreed on Tuesday to stop the hunger strike which started ten days ago, after social welfare minister Aleksandar Vulin promised that new legislation enshrining the rights of veterans will be adopted by the end of the year.

"The new law will regulate the healthcare of war veterans, war invalids and the children of war veterans," Vulin told journalists.

According to Ministry of Defence, some 500,000 Serbians took part in the wars of the 1990s, but war veterans' associations claim that the number is much higher - more than 700,000 people.

Vulin said that there were too many war veterans' associations in the country - a total of 242 - and insisted that the state needs to regulate the field because "so many fighters didn't take part in a war."

The veterans started the hunger strike demanding unpaid financial allowances dating back to the wars, health insurance for all fighters and employment for their children.

Some of the war veterans have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, but in the most recent case, the court ruled that Serbian veterans of the Kosovo war demanding reparations for unpaid allowances should pursue their cases in Belgrade rather than Strasbourg.