Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani has declared that she will refrain from signing the Law on Minimum Wage until the Constitutional Court reaches a decision on its constitutionality.

Bekim Kupina, media advisor to President Osmani, confirmed the news, stating that the Constitutional Court had informed the President about the request for a review of the law’s constitutionality, initiated by the Parliamentary Group of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and two other deputies.

The Law on Minimum Wage, which was approved in the second reading in the Kosovo Assembly on July 13, proposes an increase in the minimum wage to 264 euros gross, or 250 euros net, from the current range of 130-170 euros.

However, the law has faced opposition from several political parties and war veterans who are discontented with their exclusion from the legal changes.

The Organization of Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) held protests against the law on July 15 in the main squares of Pristina and urged President Osmani not to decree the law.

The veterans are concerned that the new law may adversely affect their pensions, which are currently set at 170 euros, and view the law as an “injustice” concerning the minimum wage.

In response to the opposition and concerns raised by the war veterans, Prime Minister Albin Kurti expressed his support for providing benefits to the veterans, but he emphasized a distinction between benefits and wages.

He underlined that benefits represent society’s gratitude for their contribution to the liberation and victory, and stressed the importance of accurately categorizing veterans before making any legislative changes.

“A huge number of KLA veterans have not yet reached the age for pension; they are too young. Most of them are not even 50 years old.”

The issue surrounding the Law on Minimum Wage and the status of war veterans remains complex. The Court of Appeal had ordered a retrial of the case known as “Veterans” on April 26, 2022, as there is suspicion that the veteran status was unlawfully granted to 19,500 individuals.

The official data on the number of veterans also show discrepancies, with the government reporting 53,188 individuals with this status, while the Kosovo Agency of Statistics states that 37,006 are beneficiaries of the veteran scheme.

As the debate continues, various organizations, including the Kosovo Institute for Justice and the Organization for Democracy, Anti-Corruption, and Dignity, “Çohu”, have stressed that the purification of the list of veterans cannot be achieved until the judicial process related to the case of “Veterans” is completed.