In just over 24 hours, the public consultation on amendments to the Croatian Veterans Act has drawn 49 comments, nearly all expressing deep dissatisfaction among volunteers with the proposed calculation of the pension supplement.
The public consultation on changes to the Croatian Veterans Act was launched on Friday, August 7, 2026, and by Saturday afternoon, 49 responses had already been recorded. The common thread among nearly all submitted comments is the outrage of volunteers who believe their voluntary engagement during the most critical period for the country will go unrecognized under the new calculation system.
The crux of the issue lies in the fact that the proposed legal text does not provide any additional scoring for volunteer status when determining the amount of the new pension supplement.
Under the current proposal, each month spent in a combat sector would earn three euros in supplement, while a month in a non-combat sector would be worth 50 cents. The final amount will depend on the total duration of participation in the country's defense, but the fact that someone was a volunteer plays no role in the final calculation.
Emil Radić, in his response on the e-Consultation platform, pointed out that the proposed law completely ignores the specific contribution of volunteers when determining the new supplement and raising the minimum pension. He stressed that people who unhesitatingly made themselves available in the most difficult circumstances must have a more favorable calculation method.
The proposal that received the most support among consultation participants was put forward by Zvonko Čulina, suggesting that volunteers be granted a ten percent increase to their existing pension, regardless of the type of pension they receive-whether old-age, early retirement, disability, or minimum. Alternatively, he also proposes increasing the personal point or the supplement itself by the same percentage.
"Volunteers did not seek privileges when they voluntarily joined the defense of the Homeland. What is being sought is not a privilege, but a permanent and fair legal recognition of their special role," Čulina stated. His concrete amendment entails a supplement of five euros per month in the combat sector and one euro per month in the non-combat sector, instead of the proposed three euros and 50 cents.
Among the comments, there are also personal, emotional testimonies that vividly illustrate the reality volunteers faced. Dinko Juričić, who fought as a volunteer from 1991 to the end of 1995 and then completed an additional 17 years of work service, shared a striking memory.
"The most difficult and uncertain period was at the very beginning of the war, when several of us shared one rifle and a few bullets," Juričić wrote, adding that the status of volunteers within the veterans' law is now completely devalued.
Rešid Selimović shares this opinion and believes that more favorable treatment of volunteers is not a matter of privilege but of basic state recognition for people who joined the defense while Croatia had neither an organized army nor international recognition. He advocates for the introduction of a special volunteer coefficient and the separation of the state supplement for war contribution from the pension earned through work.
The public consultation remains open until September 6, 2026, and a report on which comments have been accepted and which rejected is expected to be published on September 30. It remains to be seen whether the voice of volunteers will be heeded.
According to the Croatian Veterans Act, volunteer status is acquired by a veteran who, as a member of the combat sector in the defense of Croatia, spent at least 100 days from August 5, 1990, to January 15, 1992. It is also recognized for a veteran who had no obligation to participate in the reserve forces or did not regulate military service, provided they spent a minimum of 30 days in the combat sector during that period or at least 100 days by the end of 1995. The status is proven by a certificate from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior, or the Ministry of Croatian Veterans.
