Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) MP Teuta Haxhiu has presented a legislative initiative to amend the Law on State-Funded Pension Schemes, proposing proportional pensions for citizens who paid pension contributions but do not meet the current eligibility requirements.

At a press conference, Haxhiu said the initiative primarily targets people who worked and contributed to the pension system before January 1999 but fall short of the required qualifying period by several years, months or even days.

She stressed that many of these citizens have extensive work experience and documented contributions but remain excluded from the contributory pension scheme because of existing legal criteria.

"Some people are missing a few years, some a few months, but there are also some who are missing a few days. There are people who have a full 44 years of work experience," Haxhiu said.

She argued that these citizens should receive pensions proportionate to the contributions they made throughout their working lives.

"He should receive a pension in proportion to the contributions he has paid," she said.

Haxhiu proposed adding a new provision to the law establishing a proportional contributory pension for people who do not qualify under either of the two existing contributory pension categories.

She emphasized that the initiative would preserve the existing old-age contributory pension and the partial contributory pension for people dismissed from employment as a result of discriminatory measures.

Explaining the proposed calculation method, Haxhiu provided an example in which a monthly pension of €300 would be divided by 15 years, resulting in €20 for each year of contributions.

Under this calculation, someone with 14 years of contributions would receive €280 per month, while a person with 14 years and six months would receive €290.

She clarified that €300 was only an illustrative figure and that the actual pension would depend on the applicable pension rate and the period of verified contributions.

Haxhiu also insisted that months and individual days of employment be included in the calculation to ensure that people who fall short of the required period by only a few days are not excluded.

The proposed changes would also create an opportunity for citizens whose previous pension applications were rejected because they did not meet the eligibility criteria by a very short period.

Haxhiu called on parliamentary groups to support the initiative, saying it seeks to address an injustice against people who worked and paid contributions but have been unable to benefit from a contributory pension.