Summary: Kosovo cannot accede to, or attend meetings of, the Convention on Cluster Munitions due to its political status. Its officials have expressed support for the convention’s objectives.

Background

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, but its international status is disputed.[1] Kosovo is not able to become a UN member state and thus is not eligible to adhere formally to international instruments such as the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Policy

Kosovo last made a statement regarding the ban on cluster munitions in March 2010 when a spokesperson for the self-declared Republic of Kosovo told the Monitor, “In principle, as a country that has been through war, Kosovo supports the initiatives to reduce and ban arms, including the policy to ban cluster ammunition.” He stated that Kosovo does not possess any cluster munitions.[2]

Forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia used cluster munitions during the 1998–1999 conflict in Kosovo.[3] Additionally, aircraft from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States dropped cluster bombs in Kosovo during the 1999 NATO air campaign.[4]

Note: ERW = explosive remnants of war; EOD = explosive ordinance disposal; AXO = abandoned explosive ordnance.

Contamination

Kosovo is contaminated by mines, cluster munition remnants, and other ERW, primarily as a result of the conflict between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the late 1990s, and between FRY and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states in 1999.[1]

The United Nations (UN) reported in 2002 that “the problems associated with landmines, cluster munitions and other items of unexploded ordnance in Kosovo have been virtually eliminated,”[2] however further investigation revealed considerably more contamination.[3]

Mine contamination

At the end of 2017, 49 mined areas covered more than 1.6km², down from 58 mined areas over 1.9km² the year before.[4] The difference in the number of mined areas between the two years, though, cannot be satisfactorily reconciled.

Both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines were used during the conflict, in fixed-pattern minefields as well as more randomly in “nuisance” minefields. Many antipersonnel mines had low metal content, making detection more difficult.[5]

Mines are found mainly on Kosovo’s borders with Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, but also in the area of Dulie Pass in southcentral Kosovo.[6] Mines in Kosovo impede use of land for agriculture, pasture, tourism, the building of infrastructure, and firewood collection, and most directly affect the rural poor.[7] Many of the minefields cleared by HALO Trust in Kosovo are only a few meters from occupied houses.[8]

Cluster munition contamination

At the end of 2017, contamination from cluster munition remnants in Kosovo was estimated to cover a total of 15.4km² across 49 areas according to KMAC.[9] This compares to 15km² across 53 areas at the end of 2016.[10]

Contamination is primarily a result of conflict between the FRY and KLA in the late 1990s, and between the FRY and NATO in 1999.[11] During Operation Allied Force, NATO aircraft bombed 333 locations between 24 March and 10 June 1999, dropping 1,392 bombs that released more than 295,700 submunitions.[12] Forces of the FRY also used cluster munitions during the 1998–1999 conflict in Kosovo.[13] The failure rate of the submunitions was typically between 10% and 15%, resulting in tens of thousands of unexploded submunitions lying on and under the ground. A large clearance program followed in 1999 under a UN mandate, but this ended prematurely in 2001, leaving many cluster munition-contaminated areas still needing to be cleared.[14]

Cluster munition contamination in Kosovo is said to impede and endanger use of land for agriculture, pasture, tourism, and firewood collection, and most directly affects the rural poor.[15] Kosovo is small geographically with a relatively large population, and submunitions are often found in close proximity to human activity.[16] In 2017, at the Kryshec clearance task in the Peje district, HALO Trust reported that the primary land use after clearance was for residential purposes, with local residents looking to build houses.[17]

NPA’s 2015 non-technical survey in northern Kosovo revealed that of the confirmed cluster munition-contaminated area, 43% is mountainous, in area intended for tourism (a key developmental potential for the region), 25% is agricultural land, and 23% forests.[18] In the three cluster munition-contaminated provinces in northern Kosovo, NPA identified 995 local inhabitants as being directly vulnerable, and a further 1,027 as indirectly vulnerable.[19]

Other explosive remnants of war

Kosovo remains affected by ERW, other than cluster munition remnants. Most ERW consists of unexploded aircraft bombs (located mainly in the west of Kosovo) and items of AXO. However, EOD teams continue to encounter items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) dating back to World War II.[20] Kosovo Protection Force (KFOR) EOD teams regularly dispose of ERW in response to information provided by the public and demining organizations.[21]

Program Management

KMAC, under the Ministry of the KSF,
is responsible for managing the clearance of mines and ERW. It prepares an annual workplan in cooperation with demining NGOs and coordinates operations of both NGOs and the KFOR. It also coordinates survey, quality assurance (QA), risk education, public information, and victim assistance.[22]

Strategic planning

The current 2015–2018 multi-year strategic plan for the Kosovo Mine Action Program aims to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impact of mines, submunitions, and other UXO in Kosovo.[23] A new strategic plan for 2019–2024 is being developed with the aim of clearing all minefields by 2021.[24]

A nationwide baseline socio-economic impact assessment conducted in 2018 will guide the development of the new strategic plan.[25] The assessment is being conducted by KMAC, with the support of HALO Trust. The result will be used to prioritize release of the remaining hazardous areas according to need and according to national development priorities.[26] The assessment began on 12 March 2018 and was expected to be completed at the end of May, however, there have been some delays due to difficulties obtaining information about land ownership. As of 1 October 2018, the impact assessment and prioritization of future tasks was expected to be completed and signed off by the end of the month.[27]

Legislation and standards

Kosovo has a law on humanitarian demining, which was adopted on 11 April 2012, in addition to a number of other relevant regulations.[28] Kosovo has mine action standards in place, which are said to conform to the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS).[29]

Operators 

The KSF provide clearance capacity in Kosovo, including around-the-clock EOD emergency response.[30] NGOs have also been conducting land release of mined area in Kosovo, including HALO Trust, the Bosnia-based Mine Detection Dog Centre (MDDC), and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).[31]

KSF reported that in 2017 it deployed one platoon for demining operations; a reduction from the three platoons it deployed the year before.[32]

In 2017, HALO deployed nine manual demining teams and two battle area clearance (BAC) teams, with an average total operational staff of 97 (deminers, team leaders, supervisors, and medics combined). This was a similar capacity to 2016.[33]

NPA started technical survey for cluster munition remnants in November 2016, with follow-on clearance beginning in February 2017.[34] In 2017, NPA supported KSF demining operations with one team of two mine detection dogs (MDDs). As of September 2018, the MDDs had also been deployed for technical survey in northern Kosovo.[35]

Land Release

A total of just over 0.23km² of mined area was released by clearance in 2017 and a further 0.89km² reduced by technical survey.

Survey in 2017

In 2017, KMAC reported that HALO Trust reduced 88,934m² by technical survey.[36]

Clearance in 2017

KSF and the HALO Trust cleared a combined total of more than 0.23km² in 2017, an increase from just over 0.15km² in 2016.[37]

Mine clearance in 2017[38]

AP = Anti-personnel   AV = Anti-vehicle

KSF cleared one mined area in 2017, totaling 16,690m², destroying two antipersonnel mines. Clearance of the mined area was suspended at the end of the year due to the onset of winter and the consequent end of the demining season.

NPA deployed two MDDs in support of KSF, clearing 4,055m² of the 16,690m² and destroying one antipersonnel mine. KSF also conducted EOD spot tasks during which it destroyed 129 antipersonnel mines in 2017.[39]

In contrast to the figures reported by KMAC for 2017, HALO reported that it had cleared 12 areas and suspended eight others totaling 229,265m². This is 14,151m² more than KMAC reported that they cleared. Despite working in confirmed mined areas, HALO cleared 35,188m², which contained no antipersonnel mines. In 2017, HALO destroyed three antipersonnel mines during EOD callouts.[40]

According to KMAC, confirmed mined areas with high impact are prioritized for clearance.[41]  Clearance tasks are selected from the high priority areas where people are prevented access to land for cultivation and grazing, but also where communities are prevented from safely accessing wooded areas to gather firewood.[42]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants) 

A total of almost 0.9km² of cluster munition-contaminated area was cleared in 2017, while just over 0.5km² was reduced by technical survey and 2,290m² was canceled by non-technical survey.[43]

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

In 2017, NPA reduced 501,510m² by technical survey and canceled 2,290m² by non-technical survey in Tovariste and reduced 350m² by technical survey in Boljetin Zvečan municipality, and reduced 4,836m² by technical survey in Berim, Zubin Potok municipality, northern Kosovo.[44] A total of seven submunitions were destroyed during technical survey.[45] NPA is now using a cluster munitions remnants survey (CMRS)-inspired methodology, which has been modified to take account of the conditions in Kosovo.[46]

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

Collectively, KSF, HALO, and NPA cleared almost 0.88km² in 2017, with the destruction of 64 submunitions (see table below).[47] This represents a significant increase on the 0.47km² cleared in 2016.[48]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2017[49]

*Including the seven submunitions destroyed during technical survey.

According to KMAC, cluster munition-contaminated areas with high impact are prioritized for clearance. This is based on the number, location, and livelihoods of communities at risk.[50] According to NPA, along with expected impact, political and cultural factors were also taken into account when assigning tasks.[51] Clearance operations focus on areas confirmed as cluster munition-contaminated rather than on suspected hazardous areas (SHAs).[52] In 2017, however, one area was partially cleared and then released as no submunitions were found.[53]

During EOD spot tasks in 2017, five submunitions were destroyed.[54]

Progress towards completion of antipersonnel mine clearance

KMAC expects to complete clearance of antipersonnel mines in Kosovo by 2021, but it reported in 2018 that securing funding for NGOs may pose an obstacle to this completion date.[55] 

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[56]

* Figure combines mine clearance and BAC

Unfortunately, misinformation persists that mine and cluster munition remnant clearance was completed in 2001, whereas the reality is that significant contamination remains to be cleared. Kosovo is a poor area, and needs economic assistance to help it complete mine clearance in a timely manner, otherwise completion risks being prolonged to decades after the end of the conflict.[57]

Progress towards completion of cluster munition clearance 

With adequate funding, KMAC and HALO predict that clearance of cluster munition remnants will be completed by 2024.[58]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from “Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2017, two donors contributed some US$170,000 to mine action in Kosovo, a level similar to assistance provided in 2016.[1]

International contributions: 2017[2]

Since 2013, international assistance to mine action in Kosovo has totaled nearly $2 million. No annual total has exceeded more than $800,000 in the past five years.

Summary of contributions: 2013–2017[3]

Casualties

Casualties Overview

One new ERW casualty was reported in Kosovo in 2015. A civilian was injured in an incident with a hand grenade.[1] Five cluster submunition and ERW casualties were reported in Kosovo in 2014.[2]

The 2015 casualty figure is a decrease from 2014 and similar to 2013 when no mine/ERW casualties were reported.[3] In 2012, seven mine/ERW casualties were identified in Kosovo in four separate incidents.[4] No casualties from antipersonnel mines in minefields have been reported in Kosovo since 2004.

Between 1999 and 2014, 575 mine/ERW casualties (116 killed; 459 injured) were identified in Kosovo. More than three quarters of all mine/ERW casualties (438 or 76%) were recorded between 1999 and 2000.[5]

Cluster munition casualties

At least 180 casualties from incidents involving unexploded submunitions were recorded between 1999 and the end of 2014. This total includes two new cluster munition casualties recorded in two separate incidents in 2014.[6] An additional 25 casualties, which occurred during cluster munition strikes in 1999, were also recorded.[7]

Victim Assistance

Protection of the rights of persons with disabilities is overseen by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.[8] Legislation to ensure equal access to services for persons with disabilities exists, but implementation was challenging and administrative procedures required simplification. Inadequate institutional support and health services, and poor accessibility, hindered fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities. Kosovo needed to improve the integration of persons with disabilities through better implementation of its 2013-2023 strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities and the strategy’s action plan for 2013-2015. Health and rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities are insufficient. Physical access to public institutions remained a challenge. The National Disability Council failed to adequately promote the rights of persons with disabilities through implementation of the strategy and action plan because it lacked support for undertaking its coordinating role from the Office for Good Governance, which is led by the office of the Prime Minister.[9]