The Minister of Veterans' Affairs, Predrag Matic, presented amendments to the law regulating the rights of Homeland War veterans and their families in Parliament on Thursday. The proposed amendments provide for the publication of the Homeland War Veterans Register, which Matic said was one of the government's election promises.
"The Register has been compiled to strengthen the dignity of the Croatian veterans, promote the values of the Homeland War and collect data about all veterans in a single record," Matic said, stressing that the publication of the register would not threaten individual security or national interests.
The Register consists of a general and specific section and supplementary data. The general section gives the name, surname and name of one parent, date, place and country of birth, gender, address and place of residence, number of days of participation in the Homeland War, combat or non-combat service, attachment to the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of Defence, and veteran status (recruit or volunteer).
The specific section contains the name of the unit and the period of participation in the Homeland War, while the supplementary data is of a technical nature to facilitate data processing between government bodies and legal entities.
On-line information will include the name, name of one parent, surname, year and place of birth, total number of days in the Homeland War, combat or non-combat service, and whether the veteran belonged to police or military forces. Other data may be made accessible subject to written approval by the veteran concerned.
The proposed amendments declared null and void decisions on the monetary entitlements of people who had not served in the Croatian armed forces during the 1991-1995 war. Matic said that this would settle the issue of lawsuits filed by members of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The amendments will also facilitate other changes to eligibility for certain rights, including widows' pensions. Widows will be able to enter into a new marriage or de facto relationship without losing their widow's pension, but these pensions cannot be inherited by their new spouses or children in the new relationship.
People killed in the war while defending Croatia's sovereignty will be considered historically important persons, and if they have no heirs their graves will be maintained by local government authorities.
