Slovenia

The Republic of Slovenia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. In February 2009, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated, “Fully convinced of the importance of promoting adherence to and, most importantly, implementation of the Convention, Slovenia commenced the ratification procedure and will endeavour to conclude it in the coming months.”^[1]

Slovenia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and ratified Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War on 22 February 2007.

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

At the CCW Third Review Conference in November 2006, Slovenia supported a proposal for a mandate to negotiate a legally binding instrument “that addresses the humanitarian concerns posed by cluster munitions.”^[2] When other CCW States Parties rejected such a mandate, Slovenia joined 25 nations in supporting a declaration calling for an international agreement that would prohibit the use of cluster munitions “within concentrations of civilians,” prohibit the use of cluster munitions that “pose serious humanitarian hazards because they are for example unreliable and/or inaccurate,” and require destruction of stockpiles of such cluster munitions.^[3]

Slovenia then participated in the initial conference launching the Oslo Process in February 2007 and endorsed the Oslo Declaration, committing states to conclude in 2008 a convention prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Although Slovenia did not attend the international conference to develop the convention text in Lima, it participated in the subsequent international preparatory conferences in Vienna and Wellington, as well as the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008.^[4]

On 11 July 2007, the National Assembly of Slovenia adopted a declaration calling on the government to support all efforts made by the international community to conclude a new international instrument prohibiting cluster munitions. The declaration called on the government to consider national measures, including drawing up appropriate legislation to ban cluster munitions to be submitted to the National Assembly.^[5]

At the Dublin negotiations, Slovenia, in its capacity of the President of the European Union (EU), spoke on behalf of the EU, stating that “during the two weeks ahead of us, the EU Member States are prepared to work intensively and constructively in order to solve the issues on which consensus has not been reached so far.” Slovenia added that, “the EU continues to consider that parallel efforts should also be pursued in the CCW, which is supported by all EU member States, as well as by some major stakeholders, not currently involved in the Oslo Process.”^[6]

At the signing conference in Oslo in December 2008, Slovenia referred to its decision to establish the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF) in March 1998 to assist mine-affected countries in South Eastern Europe. It reiterated its commitment to the ITF, which has been actively contributing to the clearance of cluster munitions in the region, as well as assisting victims and their rehabilitation.^[7]

Use, Production, Stockpiling, and Transfer

Slovenia is not believed to have used or produced cluster munitions, and Human Rights Watch did not previously include Slovenia on its list of stockpiling nations. However, in a February 2009 letter to Human Rights Watch, the Minister of Foreign Affairs acknowledged, “Slovenia has a minimum stockpile of cluster munitions, i.e. 1,080 pieces of 155mm gun howitzer munition PAT 794 CARGO LR/BB. These munitions, however, are not used by the Slovenian Armed Forces in any activities at home or abroad.”^[8] The origin of the PAT-794 projectile is unclear.^[9]