Croatia proposes pension changes affecting more than 200,000 veterans and security personnel

(Photo: Ministry of Croatian Veterans)

Croatia has launched a public consultation on proposed amendments to two laws that would change pension rights for Croatian war veterans, military personnel, police officers and other authorised officials.

The proposed changes to the Law on Croatian Homeland War Veterans and Their Family Members and the Law on Pension Insurance Rights of Active Military Personnel, Police Officers and Authorised Officials were presented on Friday by government officials at the Ministry of Croatian Veterans.

The amendments, announced by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Knin on 5 August, include the removal of remaining pension reductions introduced in 2002 and measures aimed at increasing pension benefits for eligible groups.

Minister of Croatian Veterans Tomo Medved said the changes would continue the government’s policy of correcting previous reductions affecting veterans’ pensions. Previous reductions introduced in 2010 and 2014 had already been removed in earlier legislative changes.

Under the proposed amendments, pension calculations would place greater emphasis on the length of participation in the Croatian War of Independence (Homeland War), with particular focus on time spent in combat roles. The government said the changes would also recognise participation in non-combat roles, although with lower adjustments.

The Ministry estimates that the amendments to the veterans’ law would cover 173,468 Croatian veterans and family members, representing more than 65% of retired beneficiaries covered by various pension regulations.

When combined with changes affecting military personnel, police officers and authorised officials, the package would cover 201,304 beneficiaries, or almost 76% of all retired Croatian veterans and related beneficiaries.

The government has allocated €61.5 million for measures under the veterans’ law and an additional €27 million for changes related to military and police pensions, bringing the total planned financial impact to €88.5 million annually.

A key measure under the second law would remove pension reductions of between 8% and 20% introduced in 2002 for around 34,000 beneficiaries, who are expected to receive an average increase of around €70 per month.

The proposals also include an increase in compensation for caregivers of 100% disabled Croatian war veterans (Category I), affecting 368 caregivers.

The amendments are now available for public consultation for one month. After reviewing comments and proposals, the government plans to submit the legislation to Parliament in September, with implementation expected from 1 January 2027.