Leskovac: War vets in hunger strike

30 former army reservists have started a hunger strike in the Leskovac town hall today. The protest in the southern Serbian town comes in the wake of those in several other municipalities, starting in Kursumlija last summer. Leskovac: War vets in hunger strike The former reserve soldiers in the Yugoslav Army (VJ) want the state to pay their outstanding daily wages from the 1999 war. The veterans' colleagues from the Toplicki District last week reached an agreement with the authorities, that awarded them on average RSD 200,000 per person. Now the former Leskovac reservists want a similar settlement, and are pointing the finger at the prime minister's adviser, Slobodan Lalatovic, who they say "promised two weeks ago that the government will look into the problem and solve it". "Obviously we will have a hard time reaching our goal through negotiations. Honestly, the caretaker government can't see eye to eye, one side shifts the blame to the DSS, the other to the DS. We are running around in circles and we have no idea how to resolve this," the striking committee president, Dusan Nikolic, told reporters. The Leskovac veterans were Friday thrown out of the government building in Belgrade, since none of the officials agreed to see them. After this, a group of them opted for the hunger strike. The veterans are also announcing they will engage in "mass protests in front of the local institutions", unless their demands are met.

Leskovac: War vets in hunger strike

The former reserve soldiers in the Yugoslav Army (VJ) want the state to pay their outstanding daily wages from the 1999 war.

The veterans' colleagues from the Toplički District last week reached an agreement with the authorities, that awarded them on average RSD 200,000 per person.

Now the former Leskovac reservists want a similar settlement, and are pointing the finger at the prime minister's adviser, Slobodan Lalatović, who they say "promised two weeks ago that the government will look into the problem and solve it".

"Obviously we will have a hard time reaching our goal through negotiations. Honestly, the caretaker government can't see eye to eye, one side shifts the blame to the DSS, the other to the DS. We are running around in circles and we have no idea how to resolve this," the striking committee president, Dušan Nikolić, told reporters.

The Leskovac veterans were Friday thrown out of the government building in Belgrade, since none of the officials agreed to see them. After this, a group of them opted for the hunger strike.

The veterans are also announcing they will engage in "mass protests in front of the local institutions", unless their demands are met.