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Montenegro
Mine Action
Last full update 17 December 2012, cluster munition content updated in 2013
Contamination and Impact
Montenegro became contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO), as a result of conflicts during the break up of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.[1]
Mines
It was reported in the press in November 2007 that Montenegro had become the first Balkan country to be cleared of mines.[2] Its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2008 stated “there are no areas under Montenegro’s jurisdiction or control in which anti-personnel mines are known or suspected to be emplaced.”[3] However, Montenegro still had to survey a mountainous area on its borders with Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to clarify if contamination on the Croatian side of the border also affects Montenegro.[4] As of July 2012, Montenegro had not formally declared completion of its Article 5 obligations.[5]
Cluster munition remnants
NATO air strikes between March and June 1999 involved the use of 22 cluster bombs of four different types: AGM-154A JSOW guided missiles, BL-755s, CBU-87/Bs and Mk-20 Rockeyes. These scattered a little over 4,000 submunitions consisting of three different types: BLU-97A/B, MK-1 and MK 118.[6]
Montenegro’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report affirmed that, as of 27 January 2011, “there are no contaminated areas in Montenegro.”[7] In July 2011, however, the director of the Regional Centre for Divers’ Training and Underwater Demining (RCUD) confirmed that unexploded submunitions had been found in 2007.[8] In 1999, after the air strikes, military units collected more than 1,800 submunition remnants, but Montenegro informed the intersessional meeting of the Convention on Cluster Munitions that it had not been conducted “fully according to humanitarian mine action standards” and that it planned to conduct a survey.[9]
Non-technical survey (NTS) conducted by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) between December 2012 and April 2013 identified 87 polygons of suspected or confirmed hazardous areas covering a total area of 1.72km² affecting five communities in three municipalities. The contamination mainly affects infrastructure and utilities, accounting for 63% of the affected land, and agriculture (30%).[10]
The most affected area was Golubovci municipality, particularly around its airport, accounting for 1.38km² of the total, followed by Tuzi and Rožaje municipalities. There are signs that submunitions may also be present in two other areas of Plav municipality, Bogajice and Murino, which could not be immediately investigated because of high levels of snow.[11]
Mine Action Program
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration established a Department for Emergency Situations and Civilian Safety in 2007. It lacks human resources and equipment, however. Because of a shortage of funds, the responsibility for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) remained with the police.[12] Police set up an EOD team that currently has three trained members who conduct demolitions.[13]
RCUD has continued its role as the national mine action center.[14] RCUD was set up in 2002 by the government, which assigned the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Administration to “develop [the center’s] organization and its specification.”[15] It describes itself as a “public institution and has status of a legal entity realizing independently its functions assigned by the [government].”[16]
RCUD and NPA signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2012 under which NPA agreed to fund and implement a two-phase project involving, first, the conduct of a non-technical survey and, secondly, technical survey and clearance of areas where the presence of cluster munitions is confirmed. NPA agreed to set up a database and to develop capacity for non-technical survey and quality management.[17]
Land Release
Montenegro did not report any clearance of cluster munition contaminated area in 2012.[18]
Survey in 2012
NPA started a non-technical survey in December 2012 which was completed in April 2013 and identified 87 polygons of suspected or confirmed hazardous areas covering a total area of 1.2km2 affecting five communities in three municipalities (see Contamination and Impact section above).[19]
Mine clearance in 2011
No mine clearance was reported in Montenegro during 2011.[20]
Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty
Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Montenegro is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 April 2017. Officials stated publicly in November 2007 that Montenegro was free of mines, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not formally declared completion of its Article 5 obligations and has not said when it plans to do so.[21]
Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2012
Montenegro did not conduct clearance of cluster munition contaminated area in 2012, although RCUD reported that in July 2012 it found and destroyed two unexploded submunitions in the course of underwater clearance of three tons of UXO in the river Zeta in Podgorica.[22]
In 2013, NPA expected to release 1.2–1.3km2 through technical survey and clearance and 0.4–0.5km2 through non-technical survey.[23]
Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Montenegro is required to complete clearance of all areas affected by cluster munition remnants under its jurisdiction or control by 1 August 2020.
Montenegro said it planned to complete clearance of all contaminated areas in 2014 through agreement with NPA on implementation of its “Completion Initiative.”[24]
Battle area clearance in 2011
Montenegro did not report any onshore battle area clearance in 2011. [25]
RCUD underwater deminers conducted 14 clearance tasks in 2011 in response to information from the population, clearing an area of 30,000m2 and disposing of 1,300kg of UXO, mostly hand grenades and unexploded bombs. Three teams of four deminers conducted those tasks along the Montenegrin coastline, from Ulcinj to Herceg Novi. The UXO items they found were destroyed by the police EOD department.[26]
In the first six months of 2012, RCUD underwater teams worked on clearance of 8,000m2, finding and destroying a total of four tons of different UXO.[27]
Explosive ordnance disposal in 2011
The Department for Emergency Situations and Civilian Safety has reported finding and destroying a total of 6 tons of UXO during 121 EOD response tasks in 2011. Items destroyed in these operations included antivehicle mines, antipersonnel mines, unexploded submunitions, air bombs, antiship torpedoes, grenades, rockets, bullets, fuzes, and detonators.[28]
Quality management
Quality control of the underwater operations is conducted internally by RCUD staff in accordance with the SOPs developed in compliance with IMAS.[29]
Safety of demining personnel
No demining incident or accident was reported in 2011.[30]
Risk Education
No risk education was conducted during 2011.[31]
[1] Interview with Veselin Mijajlovic, Director, Regional Centre for Divers’ Training and Underwater Demining (RCUD), Bijela, 14 March 2007.
[2] “Montenegro is the only one without mines in Balkans,” Pobjeda (Montenegrin daily newspaper), 8 November 2007; “Montenegro cleared,” Dan (Montenegrin daily newspaper), 9 November 2007; and interview with Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, Podgorica, 16 March 2008.
[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2008), Forms C and I. Montenegro’s subsequent Article 7 reports state “no change.”
[4] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012, and interview, Podgorica, 18 February 2009.
[5] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012.
[6] Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, pp. 6 and 16.
[7] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 1 August 2010 to 27 January 2011), Form F.
[8] Telephone interviews with Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 19 and 25 July 2011.
[9] Statement of Montenegro, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 17 April 2012.
[10] NPA, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, pp. 6 and 23.
[11] Ibid., pp. 6 and 21.
[12] Telephone interview with Zoran Begovic, Assistant to the Minister, Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration, 21 June 2011; email, from Zoran Begovic, Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration, 8 April 2010; and interview with Borislav Miskovic, Montenegrin Police Force, Podgorica, 16 March 2008.
[13] Email from Zoran Begovic, Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration, 28 June 2012.
[14] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012.
[15] Sluzbeni list RCG (Official Gazette of Montenegro), No. 66, pp. 28–32.
[16] See RCUD, www.rcudme.info.
[17] NPA, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, p. 8.
[18] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 30 April 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form F.
[19] NPA, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, p. 6.
[20] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012.
[21] Telephone interview with Stanica Andjic, Department for UN and Other International Organizations, Multilateral Sector, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2011; “Montenegro is the only one without mines in Balkans,” Pobjeda, 8 November 2007; “Montenegro cleared,” Dan, 9 November 2007.
[22] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012.
[23] NPA, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, p. 27.
[24] Norwegian People’s Aid, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, p. 6; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the period 30 April 2012 to 31 March 2013), Form F.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Email from Zoran Begovic, Ministry of Interior Affairs and Public Administration, 28 June 2012.
[29] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Ibid.
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