Notes: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; SHA = suspected hazardous area; ERW = explosive remnants of war.

Contamination

The Republic of Croatia is affected by mines and, to a much lesser extent, ERW, including cluster munition remnants, a legacy of four years of armed conflict associated with the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Mine contamination

At the end of 2017, Croatia had a total of 411km² of mined area (0.73% of the entire land mass of Croatia), excluding military areas.[3] Of this total, 269km² across 57 sites was CHA, while mines were suspected to cover a further 142km², across 47 SHAs (see table below).[4] This represents a decrease compared to the 281km² across 64 CHAs, and 162km² across 52 SHAs, as of the end of the previous year.[5] A further 32.7km² of confirmed mined area exists in areas under military control, said to contain 25,299 antipersonnel mines and 1,040 antivehicle mines. More than 90% of this mined area is across three military training sites, but a barracks and three storage sites are also believed to be contaminated.

Mined area by county (at end 2017)*[6]

Note: * A further 31.4km² of mined area exists in areas under military control.[7]

Eight of Croatia’s 21 counties are still mine-affected, containing an estimated 32,830 antipersonnel mines and 6,441 antivehicle mines.[8] This represents an increase in the estimated number of antivehicle mines, compared to the figure of 6,115 from the previous year. It is due to CROMAC having revised its estimate following a more detailed analysis of minefield records in preparation for its second Article 5 extension request.[9]

Clearance in the county of Brod-Posavina was completed at the end of 2017.[10] Sisak-Moslavina and Lika-Senj counties are the most heavily contaminated with antipersonnel mines, containing an estimated 12,741 and 11,390 antipersonnel mines, respectively, and accounting for 73.5% of the total number of antipersonnel mines emplaced.[11]

In July 2017, media erroneously reported that 34 landmine explosions had been triggered in southern Croatia, in an area thought to be mine-free, following the spread of a forest fire from neighboring Montenegro.[12] However, this information was incorrect, and the reported explosions were in fact caused by a local resident firing a gas-fueled sound cannon to deter wild boars.[13]

The impact of mines in Croatia is predominantly socio-economic and at local level, preventing safe use of land for livestock and forestry-related activities. At the end of 2017, 89% of mine contamination was on forested land; 10% on agricultural land; and 1% on other areas (e.g. water, marshland, and coastal areas).[14] Of the total 411.5km² of combined SHA and CHA, 59.7% is protected as national park or Natura 2000 area.[15] Much of the remaining mined area is in mountainous areas and has not been accessed for 20 years, so the terrain and conditions pose challenges to demining.[16]

Croatia calculates that approximately 485,537 inhabitants, in 59 towns and municipalities in the eight affected counties, are directly exposed to the threat of mines.[17] However, there is comprehensive hazard marking of mined areas.[18]

Cluster munition contamination

At the end of 2017, Croatia had 11 areas confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants, covering a total area of over 1.05km² (see table below).[19] This compares to reported contamination a year earlier of 10 CHAs over a total of 1.74km².[20]

While more than 1km² of cluster munition-contaminated land was cleared in 2017, some new areas of previously unknown contamination were also discovered, including a very small amount of land in Split-Dalmatia, a county that had been declared completed in 2016, as well as in three other counties.[21] The cluster munition remnants in Split-Dalmatia were discovered during the regular course of demining activity.[22]

Cluster munition contamination by county (at end 2017)[23]

Croatia was contaminated with unexploded KB-1 and Mk-1 submunitions by the conflicts in the 1990s that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia.[24] CROMAC reports that cluster munition remnants have more of a socio-economic than humanitarian impact,[25] and the last recorded cluster munition-related incident was more than 10 years ago.[26] As of September 2017, 25.7% of the remaining cluster munition-contaminated area was defined as agricultural; 72.1% as forested, and 2.2% as “other area” (e.g. water, marshland, landslides, coast).[27]

Program Management

CROMAC is responsible for the collection, processing, and recording of data on mine and ERW contamination, survey, and clearance; marking of contaminated areas; non-technical survey; quality control of clearance; technical survey, and the planning of demining and technical survey operations.[28] CROMAC is accountable to the government of Croatia through the Managing Board (formerly known as the CROMAC Council) whose members are representatives of the relevant ministries and other stakeholders, appointed by the government.[29]

The former members’ mandate expired in August 2016, and there was a period of almost one year when the council did not meet, until a new government decree re-established it as the Managing Board in July 2017. During this period, the lack of a government decree posed administrative challenges, such as delay in CROMAC’s annual workplan being sent for government approval as well as restrictions regarding recruitment.[30] A new Director of CROMAC, Zdravko Modrušan, was appointed at the end of September 2017.[31]

The Office for Mine Action (OMA) reports to the Prime Minister’s office, to function as a focal point for mine action, strengthen coordination among stakeholders and funding agencies, and raise public awareness about mine and ERW hazards.[32] The OMA does not sit above CROMAC; rather, it is the government institution dealing with the political aspects of mine action, whereas CROMAC deals with operations.[33] The OMA includes a Unit for European Union (EU) Funds, tasked with promoting access to a range of EU funds to support the mine action sector.[34]

Strategic planning

CROMAC has a National Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019, which includes the goal of all mine clearance by 2019.[35] Croatia subsequently submitted a request to extend its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline from 1 March 2019 to 1 March 2026.

Croatia’s initial 2008 Article 5 deadline extension requestset out annual demining targets and strategic goals, including elimination of the mine threat to housing and areas planned for the return of displaced people (by 2010); concerning infrastructure (by 2011); on agricultural land (by 2013); and in forest areas (by 2018).[36] While clearance of the mine threat to housing and infrastructure was completed, Croatia missed its targets on agricultural land and forested area.

In its 2018 Article 5 deadline extension reque4st, Croatia has prioritized the remaining mined areas according to those that affect safety; those that pose barriers to the socio-economic development; and those that impact ecology in other ways. While priorities at the operative level are elaborated in annual demining action plans, Croatia’s goal is to clear all areas intended for agriculture by the end of 2018 and to demine all known minefields by the end of 2024.[37] In addition, Croatia plans to complete clearance of all cluster munition remnants by the end of 2018.[38]

Based on the approved funding, CROMAC drafts annual workplans, which are submitted to the responsible ministries, the OMA, and other state bodies for comment and approval.[39]

According to its 2018 Annual Plan of Mine Action, CROMAC planned to release a total of 56.5km² in 2018: 39.8km² through clearance and 16.7km² through technical survey and supplementary general survey (during which control samples are taken to determine the absence of mines and UXO).[40] CROMAC’s priorities for demining in 2018 included completion of cluster munition clearance, under Croatia’s Article 4 obligation under the Convention on Cluster Munitions; completion of mine clearance operations in Brodsko-Posavska county; and completion of clearance of all mined agricultural land. In addition, Croatia planned to continue clearance of economically prioritzsed forests in Karlovac, Lika-Senj, Požega-Slavonia, and Sisak-Moslavina counties, and to begin clearance of approximately 25km² of protected and Natura 2000 protected areas of Osijek-Baranja county.[41]

Legislation and standards

A new Mine Action Law was adopted by the Croatian parliament on 21 October 2015, incorporating developments from the latest International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), and specifically those relating to the use of technical survey to confirm the presence of contamination or discredit it as an SHA.[42]

In March 2017, the amendments to the “By-law on the Method of Conducting Demining Operations, Quality Control, General and Technical Survey and Marking of Suspected Hazardous Area,” were published in the Official Gazette, after which they entered into force.[43] Amendments adopted through this by-law elaborate in more detail the provisions in the 2015 Law on Mine Action relating to the implementation of demining activities. Adoption of the amended by-law is said to require that demining activities be systematically monitored “in order to eliminate or correct possible deficiencies or improperness that slow down or hamper the demining process.”[44]

The new law has reduced CROMAC’s role in several respects. Under the 2015 Law, the Ministry of Interior assesses authorized legal entities for conducting demining; this was formerly CROMAC’s responsibility.[45] The law has limited CROMAC’s supervision of the commercial operators.[46] The responsibility for investigating demining accidents now lies with the state attorney, under the oversight of the Ministry of Interior.[47]

In the view of several CROMAC personnel, while the law has made an improvement in certain aspects (for example improving land release), it has also negatively affected the efficient and effective running of the mine action program.[48]

Quality management

With the adoption of the 2015 Law on Mine Action, CROMAC now undertakes only quality control of executed demining operations,[49] and quality assurance operations are performed by the Ministry of Interior.[50]

Operators

As of 1 January 2018, 40 commercial companies, with a total capacity of 676 deminers (121 deminers, 28 quality assurance (QA) deminers, and 11 QA officers), 45 machines, and 99 mine detection dogs (MDDs), were accredited to conduct mine and cluster munition clearance.[51] This represents roughly the same capacity as the previous year, but with an increase in use of MDDs.[52]

The Demining Battalion of the Engineering Regiment is responsible for clearance of all military facilities.[53] The Ministry of Defense submits its demining plan for military facilities to CROMAC annually.[54]

The state-owned enterprise, MUNGOS, which was previously directly assigned a sufficient number of tasks by CROMAC to keep it solvent while it slowly phased down clearance operations,[55] was finally dissolved and its assets auctioned during the first half of 2018.[56] In December 2017, the Croatian government decided to transfer MUNGOS employees to CROMAC, to enhance quality control activities and increase survey capacity.[57]

As a result of conditions for earlier World Bank funding, Croatia has an unusually commercialized mine action sector, with almost all civil clearance conducted by local companies competing for tenders. NGOs are barred from competing for commercial tenders as CROMAC views their subsidy by other funds as unfair.[58] As barriers to entry into the mine clearance market are relatively low there is considerable fragmentation. Of the 21 companies demining in 2017, 10 cleared less than one square kilometer (see table below).[59] In 2018, CROMAC reported that the average price of demining operations had increased compared to the previous year, which it believed is due to market stabilization activities in the mine action system.[60] (For further information about the tendering process, refer to the Croatia mine action profile for 2017.)

Land Release

In 2017, nearly 30.4km² of mined area was released by clearance (29.9km² by operators working under the direction of CROMAC and a further 0.48km²by the Croatian army).

A further 6.6km² was released by technical survey and non-technical survey.[61]

Survey in 2017

CROMAC released 6.6km² through technical and non-technical survey in 2017.[62] This is double the 3.16km² released through survey in 2016.[63] A further 5.7km² of previously unknown contamination was confirmed as mined in 2017.[64]

Clearance in 2017

Commercial demining operators working under the direction of CROMAC cleared nearly 30km² across 73 mined areas in 2017, with the destruction of 1,271 antipersonnel mines, 18 antivehicle mines, and 519 items of UXO (see table below).[65] This is a 20% decrease on the 38km² cleared across 106 mined areas in 2016.[66] The main reason for this decrease is said to be a decree from the Ministry of Interior, which changed the rules regarding what land can be formally reported as clearance output (i.e. “only the areas for which an official CROMAC confirmation of exclusion has been published”). According to CROMAC, the actual clearance output for 2017 was 38.5km², but 8.6km² of this was not formally reported, because the “necessary administrative processes” had not yet been completed.[67] Of the 73 mined areas cleared in 2017, some 13 areas totaling some 3.17km², were found not to contain mines.[68] This equates to roughly 10% of the total area cleared, and is proportionally a significant increase on 2016, when only 1% of the total area cleared was found not to contain mines.[69]

In addition, the Croatian army cleared just over 0.48km² of military facilities in 2017. No antipersonnel mines or antivehicle mines were discovered during army clearance operations, but 279 items of UXO were found and destroyed.[70] This is a small decrease in clearance output on the 0.45km² cleared in 2016.[71]

Also, as part of the continued “less arms, fewer tragedies” program, the Croatian Police (under the Ministry of Interior), and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), collected 122 antipersonnel mines and 22 antivehicle mines, in addition to explosives, hand grenades, and other weapons and explosive ordnance, which were subsequently transported to and destroyed at Croatian military facilities.[72]

Mine clearance in 2017[73]

In July 2016, Croatia signed a contract to demine its border with Hungary, as part of a cross-border cooperation project. The total area to be covered by the project was 1.46km², and 1.45m² was demined in 2016, with the destruction of 137 antipersonnel mines, 103 antivehicle mines, and 66 items of UXO. Of the total project, 3,400m² remained to be cleared as of the end of 2016, as it was underwater.[74] Demining of the remaining mined area was subsequently completed in the first half of 2017.[75]

As of April 2018, a further 1.2km² of suspected mine contamination remains on Croatia’s border with Hungary, at a distance of 1km from the border.[76]

According to its 2017 Annual Plan of Mines Action, CROMAC had planned to release 58.3km² through survey and clearance in 2017. Actual 2017 output fell short of this goal, with a total of 36.5km² released (29.9km² through clearance and 6.6km² through survey), in addition to the 0.49km² demined by the Croatian armed forces.[77]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

Croatia released 1.01km² of cluster munition-contaminated area by clearance in 2017.[78] Output was a slight decrease on 2016, when 1.2km² of area containing only cluster munition remnants was cleared, in addition to a further 0.1km² of mixed mine and cluster munition clearance.[79]

Four companies were engaged in cluster munition clearance operations in 2017, namely DIZ-EKO, MINA PLUS, RUMITAL, and TITAN.[80]

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

CROMAC identified and confirmed four cluster munition-contaminated areas totaling 158,750m² in 2017: 8,158m² in Lika-Senj county; 448m² in Split-Dalmatia county; 136,276m² in Sisak-Moslavina county; and 13,868m²in Šibenik-Knin county.[81]

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

Croatia cleared six areas in three counties covering just over 1.01km² of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2017, destroying a total of 123 KB-1 submunitions (see table below).[82]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2017[83]

Clearance was in five demining projects areas that contained exclusively cluster munition contamination, and one additional contracted mine clearance project completed in Zadar county, which also resulted in destruction of cluster munition remnants.[84] All the areas cleared were found to have cluster munition remnants.[85]

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 will not meet the deadline and has requested a seven-year extension.

In May 2017, Croatia noted that meeting the 2019 Article 5 deadline “will be very challenging,” based on the overall pace of progress.[86]

In March 2018, Croatia submitted a seven-year extension request to its Article 5 deadline, until 1 March 2026, on “the basis that this is a realistic but not unambitious amount of time given the extent of the remaining problem and the human, material and financial resources available or expected, and the demining and survey capacities currently available.”[87] All relevant stakeholders in the Croatian mine action system are reported to have been involved in the analysis conducted as part of extension request process, and the request has also been “verified by the Croatian Government, which adopted the text of the 2nd Request thus giving it much needed political weight.”[88]

During Croatia’s first 2008 extension period (2009 to 2019), only half of its land release plan was achieved. Failure to meet the plan is attributed primarily to insufficient demining funds (especially for the period 2010–2014, due to the global economic crisis), but also to: overly ambitious targets with regards to planned release of forested area; insufficient CROMAC capacity preventing the planned release of mined area through non-technical and technical survey; restriction of certain demining methods in national parks or Natura 2000 areas for environmental protection reasons; insufficient capacity, especially in quality control following the 2015 Law on Mine Action; and the fact that 91.3km² of new mined area was identified in 2008–2017.[89]

While Croatia has requested an extended deadline of 1 March 2026, it foresees that survey and clearance operations will be completed by the end of 2025, leaving only administrative/paperwork issues to be settled in the beginning of 2026.[90]

The remaining mined area to be addressed during the period of Croatia’s second extension (1 March 2019 to 1 March 2026) covers 387.3 km². Implementing the extension request will require clearance of CHA (with minefield records), totaling 173.9 km² (including 32km² of mined area on Ministry of Defenseland); clearance of CHA (with no minefield records, but for which there is evidence of contamination), totaling 79.5 km²; and survey and release of SHA totaling 133.9 km² (see table below).[91] Survey will take place between 2019 and 2025, but any resulting clearance required, expected to be completed by the end of 2025.[92]

Planned demining output in km²(2019–2026)[93]

Considering the current capacity and the type of terrain and structure of remaining mined area, Croatia expects to be able to release roughly 56 km² per year over the next seven years, a total of 387.4km².[94] For comparison, in the seven-year period 2011–2017, a total of 440km² was released: 238km² through clearance and 202km² though survey, which included significant amounts of cancellation between 2011 and 2015.[95]

Operators are restricted in their use of demining machines on mountainous, rocky, or forested terrain.[96] Croatia’s 2018 extension request stresses that as the remaining areas to be cleared are mainly forested (89.7%), there will be a significant reduction in the use of demining machinery, especially medium and heavy machine.[97] Croatia foresees that use of demining machines will be limited to small, mobile machines that can be efficiently transported and used in such areas, and that the resulting increase in manual demining will reduce productivity and increase the cost of clearance and technical survey. Croatia therefore plans to research and develop methods and techniques for the use of MDDs, especially for technical survey operations, as a potentially more effective tool to address mined areas in mountainous terrain.[98]

Croatia reports that, unlike 10 years ago, it now has sufficient mine action capacity for release of remaining mined area on its territory by 2026.[99] Croatia intends to use state as well as EU funds, which it is confident it will secure as planned.[100]

Demining of military facilities/Ministry of Defensearea is conducted by the Demining Battalion of the Engineering Regiment, according to plan made by the Ministry of Defense.[101] The 5–6km² per year planned for in the 2018 extension request, is substantially more than 0.5km² per year cleared by the armed forces over the last two years.

Almost 180km² of mined area in Croatia has been cleared over the last five years (see table below). However, while annual clearance output exceeds the targets in Croatia’s 2009–2019 mine action strategy,[102] the amount of land released by survey each year has fallen well behind the yearly targets outlined in the strategy.In order to ensure Croatia meets its Article 5 obligation by 1 March 2026, CROMAC will need to increase its capacity and implementation of survey operations, including the use of non-technical and technical survey to more accurately determine the size and location of contamination, and to cancel and reduce areas in which no evidence of contamination is found.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[103]

* Includes 0.48km²cleared by the Ministry of Defense.
** Includes 0.45km²cleared by the Ministry of Defense.

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 4.45km² of cluster munition-contaminated area over the past five years (see table below). Croatia plans to meet its Article 4 deadline by completing clearance of all known cluster munition contamination by the end of 2018, well in advance of its August 2020 deadline.[104] Challenges to cluster munition clearance are posed by rocky, forested, and mountainous areas, which prevent use of demining machines.[105]

Five-year summary of clearance[106]

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.