The caucus whip of the Serbian List in the Kosovo Parliament, Slavko Simić, yesterday requested from the Kosovo government to abolish the administrative direction that provides additional conditions for Kosovo residents fulfilling criteria for pension and social welfare.

A communique issued by the Serbian List states that the administrative direction issued by the Ministry for Labor and Social Welfare violates the law because such decisions have to be adopted by the parliament.

Simić stressed that residents’ basic pensions, provided from the Kosovo budget, have been suspended or abolished recently, despite the fact that these persons fulfill the legal criteria and regularly report to the Centers for Social Welfare. He further explained that suspension of the pensions refers to residents who are not able to prove that they live in Kosovo, that is, to provide their paid bills for utilities such as water, electricity or telephone.

The Minister for Labor and Social Welfare, Arban Abrashi, explained at the session that recently the introduced administrative instruction requires from residents who are receiving pensions additional evidence with regard to their residence.