Contaminated by: landmines (massive contamination), cluster munition remnants (light contamination), and unexploded ordnance (UXO). 

Article 5 deadline: 1 March 2019
(Not on track to meet deadline) 

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 deadline: 1 August 2020
(On track to meet deadline)

The Republic of Croatia adopted a new mine action law in October 2015. The new law incorporates developments in the latest International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), introducing a new procedure for non-technical survey (NTS), and enabling reduction of suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) through technical survey, which was not possible under the previous law. 

At the end of 2015, Croatia had 294km² of confirmed hazardous area (CHA) and 189km² of SHA contaminated by mines. In 2015, more than 40.6km² of mined area was released by clearance. No land was reduced by technical survey in 2015, and just over 27.15km² was canceled by NTS.

As of the end of 2015, 2.64km² of land across four counties was confirmed to be contaminated by cluster munition remnants. In 2015, 0.43km² of cluster munition contaminated land was released by clearance. 

Recommendations for action 

• Croatia should ensure it fully uses both NTS and technical survey, to efficiently confirm areas of contamination and to discredit suspected areas that are not contaminated.
• Croatia should better regulate its commercial tendering process to discourage fragmentation of the demining market.
• Croatia should adopt and present a strategic plan for completion of its clearance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Contamination

Croatia is affected by mines and, to a much lesser extent, explosive remnants of war (ERW), including cluster munition remnants; a legacy of four years of armed conflict associated with the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Mine contamination

At the end of 2015, total confirmed mined area was just over 294km², across 66 CHAs, while mines were suspected to cover a further 189km², across 55 suspected SHAs (see table below).[1]

The 483km² of combined suspected and confirmed contamination is higher than 467km² (which also contains 3.84km² of UXO) reported in Croatia’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report for 2015 and its Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V Article 10 report. The lower figure is explained on the basis that it takes into account areas physically cleared in 2015, but which had not yet been certified for handover.[2]

In 2015, mine clearance was completed in Vukovar-Srijem county,[3] leaving nine counties out of a total of 21 still mine-affected, across 68 municipalities and towns.[4] Records indicate that a total of 37,118 antipersonnel mines and 6,620 antivehicle mines contaminate the nine counties.[5] In addition, a further estimated 25,330 antipersonnel mines, and 1,035 antivehicle mines are reported to need clearance from military facilities in Croatia.[6]

Mined area by county as at end 2015[7]

Note: * A further 30.4km^₂ of SHA concerns military training sites and warehouses. The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) does not possess detailed information about this contamination, but believes it to be mainly UXO, with an estimated 1.75km² of mined area.[8]

Mine contamination includes areas on Croatia’s border with Hungary, where there is still 3.6km² of SHA within 1km of the border. The area along the borderline was cleared in 2013, as part of the EU IPA Cross Border Cooperation Program 2007–2013, in a minimum width of 50 meters.[9]

Croatia was impacted by the flood disaster that affected a number of states across southeast Europe in May 2014, though only 2.2km² of SHA in three municipalities in Vukovar-Srijem county were affected. According to CROMAC, there was no change in contamination because the river bank was breached downstream of the SHAs.[10] After the floods, though, CROMAC made demining the flooded areas a priority. Clearance of the most critical SHA, between the river bank and railway line in Gunja municipality, started as soon as the waters receded, an “in-kind donation” of services by Croatian demining companies.[11] The remaining SHA in two areas along the flood-affected border with Serbia, located in Vrbanja and Nijemci municipalities, were subsequently released as planned in 2015.[12]

A UN Development Programme (UNDP) Mine Action Recovery Needs Assessment for Flooded Areas in Eastern Croatia, completed in late 2014, praised CROMAC’s cooperation in and coordination of an effective risk education, survey, and marking response during and after the flooding. Nevertheless, it warned that had the problem been larger, capacity to respond in such a timely and effective way would have been lacking.[13] It recommended better integration of mine action into disaster response planning.[14]

As at the end of 2015, 86.6% of suspected contaminated area was reported as being on forested land, much of which is protected as national park or Natura 2000 area; 12.9% was on agricultural land; and 0.3% on other areas (water, marshland, coast, etc.).[15] The percentage of contamination on agricultural land decreased from 19% to 12.9% throughout 2015, due to the prioritization of agricultural land for clearance.[16]

Cluster munition contamination

At the end of 2015, Croatia had 2.64km² (2,640,928m²) of area confirmed to contain cluster munition contamination. Contamination, which is located across four counties, is estimated to total 4,675 unexploded KB-1 submunitions across 11 CHAs (see table below).[17] The extent of contamination is a reduction of 0.18km² compared to the situation at the end of 2014.[18] The decrease in contaminated area resulting from clearance in 2015 was partly offset by the discovery of 0.25km² of previously unrecorded cluster munition contamination.[19]

Cluster munition contamination by county at the end of 2015[20]

Note: * Cluster munition clearance in Karlovac county was completed in 2015.[21]

Croatia was contaminated with unexploded KB-1 and MK-1 submunitions by the conflicts in the 1990s that followed the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. While Croatia was affected by the 2014 Balkan floods, none of the cluster munition-affected areas were flooded.[22] CROMAC reports that cluster munition remnants have more of a socio-economic than humanitarian impact, as many of the contaminated areas are in regions used for cattle breeding.[23]

Program Management

CROMAC was established on 19 February 1998 as the umbrella organization for the coordination of mine action.[24] The CROMAC Council, an oversight and strategic planning body, consists of a president, appointed by the country’s Prime Minister, and 10 members, appointed from the ministries of defense, finance, and interior, as well as eminent persons. According to CROMAC’s statute and mandate, the council should meet on a monthly basis to discuss issues such as progress in implementing the annual plan.[25] However, the four-year mandate period of government-appointed members has expired, and since August 2016, the council was not meeting as often as before.[26]

In April 2012, the government created the Office for Mine Action (OMA), reporting to the Prime Minister’s office, to function as a focal point for mine action, strengthening coordination among stakeholders and funding agencies, and raising public awareness about mine and cluster munition hazards.[27] The OMA does not oversee CROMAC; it is the government institution dealing with the political aspects of mine action, whereas CROMAC deals with operations.[28]

Strategic planning

Croatia’s 2008 Article 5 deadline extension request set out annual demining targets and strategic goals, including elimination of all mine threat to housing and areas planned for the return of displaced people by 2010; to infrastructure by 2011; to agricultural land by 2013; and to forest areas by 2018.[29] While clearance of the mine threat to housing and infrastructure is now complete, Croatia missed its target on agricultural land, which remained contaminated as of the end of 2015.

CROMAC also has a National Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019, which includes the goal of all mine clearance by 2019, Croatia’s Article 5 clearance deadline.[30] Mine clearance priorities are divided into three main groups—safety, socio-economic, and ecological. The main goal was to complete demining of the safety priority areas and part of the socio-economic subgroup in 2016. The aim is to improve safety and promote economic development, with priorities set in collaboration with local authorities. After release of the highest priority areas has been completed, the focus will be on CHAs.[31]

The National Mine Action Strategy includes among its main goals the tackling of cluster munition remnants in accordance with the obligations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[32] There is, though, no strategic plan for the release of all areas containing cluster munition remnants. According to CROMAC, all cluster munition-contaminated areas are cleared in accordance with county and state priorities, taking into consideration obligations in treaties to which Croatia is party.[33]

Legislation and standards 

A new mine action law was drafted by a working group established by the Ministry of Interior, and consisting of representatives from key actors in the national mine action sector, including the OMA, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defense, CROMAC, and unions and employers’ associations active in demining.[34]

The Law on Mine Action was adopted by the Croatian Parliament on 21 October 2015 (Official Gazette, 110/5), and incorporates developments in the latest International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), and specifically those relating to the use of technical survey to confirm the presence or absence of contamination.[35] It also introduces a new procedure for “supplementary general survey” (i.e. non-technical survey) and enables “exclusion” (i.e. reduction) of SHAs through technical survey, which was not possible under the previous law.[36] Under the new law, CROMAC can use technical survey to release land, and to better define and confirm minefields for which it has no record.[37] There are distinct technical survey procedures for mines and for cluster munition remnants.[38]

According to CROMAC, the new Law on Mine Action has eliminated the need for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as all aspects of mine action are now clearly defined in the new law.[39] National Mine Action Standards are also encompassed within the new law.[40]

Under the new law, the Ministry of the Interior is now responsible for accreditation of authorized legal entities for conducting demining; this was formerly CROMAC’s responsibility.[41] With regard to accreditation, the Ministry of Interior now provides three separate permits: approval for manual mine detection, approval for mechanical mine detection, and approval for operations by mine and UXO detection dogs. This replaces the former unified accreditation license.[42] Changes to national criminal law have resulted in an increase from around 30 misdemeanor articles to more than 150, meaning that demining is now comprehensively regulated under domestic legislation. Control of demining has also been set at a higher institutional level.[43]

Quality management

In 2015, quality control (QC) was performed on 5,180 sampling lots covering a sampling area of 544,197m², which on average represented 1.39% of demined area.[44] Companies were ordered to repeat clearance in four projects, over a total surface area of 136.435m².[45]

With the adoption of the new Law on Mine Action, supervision during and after survey and clearance has been replaced by QC and quality assurance (QA). Subsequently, internal QC demanded of clearance operators has increased from a minimum of 1% to 5%, in order to increase safety and the quality of demining operations. In addition, CROMAC QA officers review a minimum of 5% of control samples at least every three days, and final quality management is conducted by a commission with two representatives from CROMAC and one from the Ministry of Interior.[46]

Operators

Croatia has an unusually commercialized mine action sector, with almost all civil clearance conducted by local companies competing for tenders. Much foreign donor funding is tendered by ITF Enhancing Human Security, while CROMAC manages tendering for the Croatian government and European Union money in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement. The trust fund, “Croatia without Mines,” raises money from private sources.[47]

The exception to the commercial tendering system is the state-owned enterprise MUNGOS, which is directly assigned a sufficient number of tasks by CROMAC to keep it solvent while it slowly phases down clearance operations.[48] CROMAC stated that restructuring had improved MUNGOS’s efficiency, and that following the adoption of the new mine action law in October 2015, MUNGOS will conduct technical survey for CROMAC.[49] A representative of the Association of Demining Entrepreneurs expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing privileged status of MUNGOS.[50] NGOs are barred from competing for commercial tenders as CROMAC views their subsidy by other funds as unfair.[51]

In January 2015, 40 commercial companies, with a total capacity of 650 deminers, 55 machines, and 30 mine detection dogs (MDDs), were accredited to conduct clearance of mines and cluster munition remnants. By the end of the year, capacity had increased to 46 accredited commercial companies with a total of 653 deminers, 55 demining machines, and 42 MDDs.[52] The majority of assets were deployed in mine clearance. Cluster munition clearance capacity has remained constant, and will continue to do so, as current capacity is deemed sufficient for planned activities.[53]

As barriers to entry into the mine clearance market are relatively low there is considerable fragmentation. Of the 28 companies operational in 2015, 16 cleared less than one square kilometer and none cleared more than 20% of the total area cleared. A director of a commercial demining company reported that the fragmentation of the market made it difficult to make money, leaving many companies in “pre-bankruptcy.”[54] The 2014 UNDP needs assessment observed that in recent years the number of demining companies in Croatia has grown but capacity overall has decreased.[55]

The UNDP recommended that CROMAC consider longer-term contracting to maximize use of operational assets in Croatia for both technical survey and mine clearance. It also noted that the current contracting of defined polygons is suitable for mine clearance but would not be conducive for effective technical survey, and called for a new procedure to be drafted once the law is changed.[56]

However, CROMAC plans operations on a yearly basis, in accordance with the annual demining plan and three-year demining plan, which are set by the government. CROMAC is unable to award multi-year contracts because it has to budget year-by-year, and in accordance with its laws it is not possible to contract and reserve funds for the next year until the budget is set. With the adoption of the new law, which enables use of technical survey, CROMAC plans to target demining on confirmed mined areas and to conduct technical survey on the remaining SHA.[57]

Deminer safety

CROMAC reported two antipersonnel mine incidents during demining operations in 2015. In the first, a deminer was severely injured, while in the second, one deminer was killed and other was injured.[58]

Land Release (Mines)

In 2015, more than 40.6km² of mined area was released by clearance. No land was reduced by technical survey in 2015, and just over 27.15km² was canceled by NTS.

Survey in 2015 (mines)

In total, 10 SHAs were canceled by NTS in 2015, covering 27.15km².[59] No technical survey was conducted.[60]

Clearance in 2015 (mines)

Clearance operations released 40.6km² from a total of 95 mined areas in 2015, with the destruction of 2,435 antipersonnel mines, 658 antivehicle mines, and 1,708 items of UXO, as set out in the table below.[61] In addition, the demining battalion of the Croatian armed forces reportedly demined 343,584m² of military facilities in 2015, with the destruction of 40 antipersonnel mines and 69,720 items of UXO.[62]

The 40.6km² cleared in 2015 represents an increase compared to the 37.75km² cleared in 2014.[63] This is reportedly due to a greater focus on agricultural areas, which allowed for greater use of demining machines and consequently more square meters cleared in fewer days.[64]

Some 0.83km² of clearance in 2015 resulted in no mines being found; an improvement on the equivalent mine-free area of 2.1km² cleared in 2014.[65] Furthermore, in roughly 40% of the mine-free area cleared in 2015, one or more items of UXO were destroyed.[66]

The 2,435 antipersonnel mines destroyed during clearance in 2015 was higher than the equivalent 1,842 destroyed in 2014. Despite this, according to CROMAC the number of mines found and destroyed in 2015 was still less than expected, in comparison to the minefield records.[67]

Antipersonnel mine clearance in 2015[68]

Note: AP = Antipersonnel; AV = Antivehicle.
* Data is provided from CROMAC’s database of contracts, and therefore does not list some of the accredited companies that worked as subcontractors.

The greatest proportion of clearance operations in 2015 took place in areas of economic value, including agricultural land and forested areas, which local and regional governments had identified as priority areas.[69]

Progress in 2016 (mines)

In July 2016, Croatia signed a contract to demine its border with Hungary, as part of the cross-border cooperation project. The total area to be covered by the project is 1.46km², and it was expected to start in late August 2016 and be completed by the end of the year. As of October 2016, some 85% of the project had been completed, and the clearance operations were in their final stages. CROMAC expected clearance to be finished by the end of October, weather permitting.[70] The remainder of the 3.6km² of SHA along the border will be subject to technical survey, planned for 2017.[71]

Land Release (Cluster munitions)

Croatia released almost 0.43km² of cluster munition-contaminated area by clearance in 2015. During 2015, clearance of cluster munition contamination in Karlovac county was completed.[72] 

Survey in 2015 (cluster munitions)

CROMAC identified and confirmed 253,264m² as cluster munition-contaminated area in 2015 through non-technical survey, following information received from the police about contamination discovered in the town of Šibenik, in Šibenik-Knin county.[73] 

Clearance in 2015 (cluster munitions)

Croatia released 429,445m² of area containing cluster munition remnants in 2015, all through clearance, and destroyed 101 submunitions (see table below).[74] This is a decrease compared to the 0.66km² of cluster munition-contaminated area cleared in 2014.[75] The majority of clearance was conducted by the state-owned operator MUNGOS, and the remainder by commercial demining companies.

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2015[76]

The 101 cluster munition remnants discovered during clearance in 2015 were destroyed in situ, comprising of 100 KB-1 submunitions and 1 MK-1 submunition.[77]

Demining machines were deployed more frequently in 2015 than the year before, reflecting the agricultural nature of many of the project areas. MDDs were also used in cluster munition operations in 2015.[78]

CROMAC’s priorities for 2016 were to reduce the extent of cluster munition contamination and maintain the marking of all CHAs containing cluster munition remnants.[79] Croatia started many projects in 2015 with a view to releasing all agricultural land from contamination. At the end of 2015, 12.9% of the remaining cluster munition-contaminated land was defined as agricultural; 86.8% as forested, and 0.3% as “other area” (e.g. water, marshland, landslides, coast).[80] Much of the contaminated forest is designated as national parkland, or Natura 2000 area, and is therefore protected land.[81]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension request granted by States Parties in 2008), Croatia is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2019. Croatia is not on track to meet the deadline.

CROMAC has stated, though, that if all planned EU-financed projects are carried out, Croatia still expects to meet its March 2019 deadline.[82] It acknowledges, though, that this is dependent on funding.[83]

The total of 40.6km² released through clearance in 2015 was higher than in previous years (see table below). The area of land cleared over the last five years has continued to increase annually, and exceeds the annual clearance targets in Croatia’s 2009–2019 mine action strategy.[84] However, the amount of land released by survey each year has fallen well behind the yearly targets outline in the strategy, including for 2015, for which 52km² was forecast to be released through reduction, and a further 19km² by general survey. However, only 27km² was actually canceled by survey in 2015.

Mine clearance in 2011–2015

UNDP’s Mine Action Recovery Needs Assessment for Flooded Areas in Eastern Croatia stated that the ability to release land through technical survey would enhance the capacity to more quickly recover from disasters and speed up land release.[85] However, it raised concerns that CROMAC did not have sufficient survey capacity to enable the release of land through technical survey once the demining law is changed and advised that CROMAC should boost this capacity to fully implement land-release methodology.[86] As of October 2016, CROMAC reported it had increased its capacity for technical survey through internal reallocation and that it was using MUNGOS for technical survey.[87]

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 Compliance

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2020. It is on track to meet this deadline.

 Croatia has cleared a total of almost 3.6km² over the past five years, but annual clearance has decreased successively over the last three years, as illustrated in the table below. Despite this, Croatia foresees no obstacles in meeting its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 obligations, and has predicted that clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas will be completed by the end of 2018,[88] well in advance of its Article 4 deadline.

Five-year summary of clearance[89]

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.