"Veterans must cease being the topic of petty-political discussions aimed at scoring political points," the minister of family and war veterans' affairs said, calling on parliamentary parties to adopt the bill by consensus.
Under the bill, the period of participation in the defence of Croatia lasted from 5 August 1990 to 30 June 1996.
Former detainees of Serb-run camps will again be granted the right which they enjoyed in 1996 when they were treated as disabled war veterans with at least 20-percent disability.
War veterans who are not entitled to pensions under the regular pension scheme system will be entitled to pensions amounting to 45 percent of the average salary when they turn 65 (for men) and 60 (for women).
Local units of authority will be assisted in providing flats and houses for war veterans, the minister said, adding that there were some 13,000 veterans waiting to be allocated flats.
She told the parliament that 1,185 Croatians were still regarded as missing, with 83 percent of them having gone missing in 1991.
So far, 140 mass graves have been unearthed in Croatia.
The minister went on to say that 1,366 veterans had so far committed suicide, and most of them had suffered from Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder. Under the new bill, veterans can report PTSD problems up to ten years after participation in the war.
During a discussion on the bill later in the day, Kosor announced that the government was planning to sign, by the end of this year, an agreement with Bosnia-Herzegovina regulating the status of war veterans from the Bosnian Croat Defence Council (HVO).
"The agreement is near completion," the minister said after MPs pointed out the problem of the vague status of HVO war veterans.
During the debate on the bill, which was supported by all clubs of parliamentary parties in the first reading, Kosor also announced that a registry of Homeland Defence War veterans would be completed by the end of this year, when the exact number of veterans should be established.
The government will by that time also define criteria for the entry of shares into a veterans' fund whose value will be four billion kuna.