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Country Reports
Download PDF of country response to Human Rights Watch letter.
Romania

Romania

Romania has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It produces and stockpiles cluster munitions.

Romania is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and ratified Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War on 29 January 2008. Romania has participated in the CCW work on cluster munitions in recent years.

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

In a March 2009 letter to Human Rights Watch, Romania stated, “Romania did not use, is not using and does not intend to use cluster munitions in the operational theatres where it is engaged with military personnel. This type of munitions is used exclusively on our territory, under the national defense programme.”[1]

It went on to state, “Romania supports the current need for identifying solutions for all humanitarian problems caused by the use of cluster munitions (CM) and recognizes the importance of establishing a legal regime for CM use, production and transfers, taking into account the humanitarian impact on the civilian population…. Romania, together with other NATO and EU member countries, considers that the UN mechanism offered by the CCW is the appropriate multilateral framework for negotiating an international legally-binding instrument to stipulate the CM regime.”[2]

Romania chose to participate in the initial diplomatic meeting that launched the Oslo Process in February 2007. However, at the conclusion of the Oslo conference, Romania was one of only three states out of the 49 present that did not adopt the Oslo Declaration, in which states committed to conclude in 2008 a new treaty banning cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Romania stated that it would wait for the outcome of the CCW work on cluster munitions before making further commitments.[3]

Romania subsequently attended the regional Oslo Process conference in Brussels in October 2007 and one of the three international conferences to develop the convention text—in Vienna in December 2007. It attended the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 only as an observer, and thus did not join the 107 states adopting the convention. It participated in the regional conference in Sofia in September 2008 aimed at encouraging signature of the convention, but did not come to the signing conference in Oslo in December.

In October 2008, the Ban Bus, a mobile advocacy initiative to promote awareness on cluster munitions and the convention, stopped in Bucharest during its 12,000km trip through 18 European countries.[4]

Production, Stockpiling, and Transfer

According to Jane’s Information Group, the company Romarm produces two types of 152mm dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) artillery projectiles called the CG-540 and CG-540 ER, which contain GAA-001 submunitions. Jane’s reports this to be a joint production and marketing venture with Israel Military Industries. The GAA-001 submunition is described as identical to the Israeli M85 and is produced by the Romanian company Aerotech SA.[5]

Jane’s reports that the company ROMAIR has developed and produced the CL-250 cluster bomb, which is described as similar in appearance to the Soviet RBK-250. It reportedly carries BAAT-10 antitank bomblets and BF-10T antipersonnel bomblets.[6]

Jane’s also lists Romania as possessing KMG-U dispensers (which deploy submunitions), and RBK-250, RBK-275, and RBK-500 cluster bombs.[7]

Jane’s Information Group has reported that Aerostar SA has produced the LAR-160 multiple launch rocket system, which can use the MK4 rocket that contains 104 M85 submunitions.[8] In August 2008, Aerostar SA told Human Rights Watch that it “is not involved in any way in the production of cluster munitions or their components.”[9] Aerostar SA’s website states that it performs “repairs and modernization of the entire range of 122mm launchers,” but in bold, capital letters proclaims: “TO BE CONCLUSIVE: AEROSTAR DOES NOT PRODUCE AND/OR PROMOTE ANY KIND OF AMMUNITION DESIGNATED FOR THESE SYSTEMS, ESPECIALLY CLUSTER AMMUNITION.”[10]


[1] Letter from Amb. Adrian Vierita, Representative of Romania to the United States, 3 March 2009.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Statement of Romania, Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions, 23 February 2007. Notes by CMC/WILPF. Japan and Poland also did not endorse the Oslo Declaration.

[4] Campaigners organized a public forum in conjunction with the Federation of NGOs for Development in Romania, the Peace Action Training and Research Institute of Romania, and the Embassy of Norway. CMC, “The Ban Bus in Romania, 20 – 23 October 2008,” 24 October 2008, www.stopclustermunitions.org.

[5] Terry J. Gander and Charles Q. Cutshaw, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2001-2002 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2001), p. 322.

[6] Robert Hewson, ed., Jane’s Air Launched Weapons, Issue 44 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2004) p. 290.

[7] Ibid, p. 844.

[8] Leland S. Ness and Anthony G. Williams, eds., Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 2007-2008 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2007), p. 714.

[9] Letter from Grigore Filip, President and General Director, Aerostar SA, No. 246, 26 August 2008.

[10] Aerostar SA, “Programmes – Ground Defence Systems Integration,” updated 30 October 2008, www.aerostar.ro.