The ceremony that formally marked the beginning of the destruction of unstable ammunition in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the European Union funded Small Arms Control Project implemented by UNDP and supported by the Government of Sweden, was held in Vitez on Wednesday, February 4, 2009. Mr. Constantino Longares, Head of Operation Section for Democracy and Social Development of the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms.Christine McNab, UNDP Resident Representative to BiH, H.E. Bosse Hedberg, Ambassador of Sweden in BiH, and Ms Marina Pendeš, Deputy Minister of Defence addressed the participants at the ceremony.
The project aims to, in cooperation with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reduce risks of uncontrolled presence of small arms and light weapons that represent a threat to security of people in the country. During the ceremony, the destruction of the missile fuel was demonstrated in the premises of the factory “Vitezit”. It is planned to destroy 42 tones of ammunition in this premise in Vitez in the coming period.
Mr. Longares underlined that one of the toughest challenges for Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most enduring and threatening legacies of the 1992-1995 war was the wide presence of explosive remnants of war that pose a threat to the civilian population and are an impediment to economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Being aware of the high risk and incidents in Albania, Bulgaria and Ukraine the Commission has allocated, under the Instrument for Stability, 2.7 million Euro that will support the reinforcement of the capacity of BiH institutions dealing with explosion remnants and the destruction of the remaining ones. We are confident that this project will contribute in a positive manner to the prosperity of the country and we also hope that this will only be the start of the process that will continue even when this funding is finalised.- said Mr. Longares.
There is approximately 35,000 tons of ammunition that are surplus to military requirements of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and UNDP uses the European Union funds for activities of disposal of small arms and ammunition, which include upgrade of demilitarized facilities to be used for these activities, and the destruction of gathered unstable weapons and ammunition, over the period of the next 18 months.
Stressing the importance of the Project, Ms. McNab said that with its implementation we all reached the point from where we could accelerate the process of destruction of the unstable ammunition in B&H. “I am looking forward to the day when people in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not have to worry about presence of explosive remnants of war.” – stressed Ms. McNab during the ceremony.
Government of Sweden, together with Governments of UK, Denmark, Norway and Spain, support the project implementation. “Sweden is pleased to provide support to BiH to develop capacities in the country for ammunition demilitarization”- said H.E. Bosse Hedberg, Ambassador of Sweden in BiH.
Ms Marina Pendeš expressed gratitude on behalf of BiH institutions to the Commission and all international community for their support to this project. “It would take more than 20 years for Bosnia and Herzegovina to destroy all unstable ammunition in the country without international support.“ – said Ms Pendeš.
It was emphasized that all of the activities aimed at solving the problem of uncontrolled presence of small arms and light weapons in BiH would not be possible without the financial support from the international community and without the commitment of partners from BiH authorities.
The European Union’s support to the project activities amounts to Euro 2.72 million, Government of Sweden ensured Euro 160,000, while the UNDP ensured co-financing in the amount close to Euro 325.000.
