Contaminated by: landmines (massive contamination), cluster munition remnants (light contamination), and unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline: 1 March 2019
(Not on track to meet deadline)

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 deadline: 1 August 2020
(On track to meet deadline)

As of the end of 2016, the Republic of Croatia had 281.5km² of confirmed hazardous area (CHA) and 161.7km² of suspected hazardous area (SHA) contaminated by mines, and a further 32km² of mined areas under military control. In 2016, 38.75km² of mined area was released by clearance (of which 0.45km² was under military control). A further 1.39km² was reduced by technical survey in 2016, and just 1.77km² was canceled by non-technical survey (NTS).

As of the end of 2016, 1.74km² of land across three counties was confirmed to be contaminated by cluster munitions, a decrease from the 2.64km² confirmed at the end of 2015. In 2016, 1.2km² of cluster munition-contaminated land was released by clearance, and 0.10km² was confirmed. Clearance was completed in Split-Dalmatia county.

Recommendations for action

• Croatia should formally establish the reformed Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) Council in order to avoid further administrative delays.
• In order to ensure greater progress towards meeting Croatia’s Article 5 obligation, CROMAC should 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, respectively, cancel and reduce areas in which no evidence of contamination is found.
• Croatia should better regulate its commercial tendering process to discourage fragmentation of the demining market.
• Croatia should adopt and present a strategic plan for completion of its clearance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Contamination

Croatia is affected by mines and, to a much lesser extent, explosive remnants of war (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 2016, the total confirmed mined area (excluding military sites) was 281.5km² across 64 sites, while mines were suspected to cover a further 161.7km² across 52 SHAs (see table below).[1] This represents a decrease compared to the 294km2 across 66 CHAs, and 189km2 across 55 SHAs, as at the end of the previous year.[2] Nine counties out of a total of 21 are still mine-affected, with records indicating that a total of 35,776 antipersonnel mines and 6,115 antivehicle mines remain to be cleared.[3]

This 443.2km2 of combined suspected and confirmed contamination reported by CROMAC is slightly lower than the figure of 446.6km² reported in Croatia’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report for 2016 and its Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V Article 10 and Amended Protocol II Article 13 reports, which include 3.3km2 of UXO contamination only, and not mine contamination.[4]

In addition, a further 32km² of mined area exists under military control, said to contain 25,299 antipersonnel mines and 1,040 antivehicle mines. The military facilities include three barracks, three training sites, and four storage sites, with 30km² of the overall military mined area contained in the training sites.[5]

Mined area by county (as at end 2016)*[6]

Note: * A further 31.92km² of mined area exists under military control.[7]

In July 2017, media incorrectly 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.[8] However, this information was inaccurate and the reported explosions were in fact caused by a local resident firing a gas-fueled sound cannon to deter wild boars.[9]

Mine contamination in Croatia predominantly has a socioeconomic impact on local communities, and prevents safe use of land for livestock and forestry-related activities. As of the end of 2016, 92.6% of suspected contamination was reportedly on forested land, much
of which is protected as national park or Natura 2000 area; 7.1% was on agricultural land; and 0.3% was on other areas (e.g. water, marshland, coast).[10] CROMAC planned to complete demining of agricultural land in 2018. Much of the remaining mined area is in mountainous areas and has not been accessed for 20 years, so the terrain and conditions will pose challenges to demining.[11]

Cluster munition contamination

At the end of 2016, Croatia had 10 areas confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants covering a total area of 1.74km² (see table below).[12] This compares to reported contamination at the end of 2015 of 11 CHAs covering a total of 2.64km².[13]

Cluster munition clearance in the county of Split-Dalmatia was completed in 2016, leaving only three counties contaminated.[14]

Cluster munition contamination by county (at end 2016)[15]

Croatia was contaminated with unexploded KB-1 and Mk-1 submunitions by the conflicts in the 1990s that followed the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. While Croatia was affected by the 2014 Balkan floods, none of the cluster munition-affected areas was flooded.[16]

CROMAC reports that cluster munition remnants have more of a socio-economic than humanitarian impact.[17] At the end of 2016, 7.1% of the remaining cluster munition-contaminated land was defined as agricultural, 92.6% as forested, and 0.3% as “other area” (e.g. water, marshland, landslides, coast).[18]

Program Management

CROMAC was established on 19 February 1998 as the umbrella organization for mine action coordination.[19] The CROMAC Council, the oversight and strategic planning body for mine action, is supposed to meet on a monthly basis,[20] however since the expiry of the mandate of government-appointed members in August 2016, the council has not met.[21] As of May 2017, the CROMAC Council had been reformed, but was awaiting a new government decree in order to be formerly established and commence its work.[22]

Delay in government approval of the CROMAC Council primarily poses administrative challenges, rather than hindering mine action operations on the ground. Until the decree is passed, the CROMAC Council is not able to send documents, such as the annual work plan, to the government for approval.[23] Recruitment is also affected, thus the head of CROMAC was still “acting” director of July 2017.

In April 2012, the government created the Office for Mine Action (OMA), reporting 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 hazards.[24] The OMA does not sit above CROMAC; it is the government institution dealing with the political aspects of mine action, whereas CROMAC deals with operations.[25]

Strategic planning

Croatia’s 2008 Article 5 deadline extension request
set out annual demining targets and strategic goals, including the elimination of the mine threat to housing and areas planned for the return of displaced people by 2010; to infrastructure by 2011; to agricultural land by 2013; and to forest areas by 2018.[26] While clearance of the mine threat to housing and infrastructure is now complete, Croatia missed its target on agricultural land, which is being prioritized for clearance and released annually, but which remained contaminated as of the end of 2016.

CROMAC also has a National Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019, which was approved by the Croatian Parliament in September 2009, and includes the goal of total mine clearance by 2019.[27] Mine clearance priorities are divided into three main groups: safety, socioeconomic, and ecological. The aim is to improve safety and promote economic development, focusing on the release of the highest priority areas; priorities are set in collaboration with local authorities. CROMAC has completed release of most of the highest priority areas.[28]

This national strategy includes among its main goals the tackling of cluster munition remnants in accordance with the obligations of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,[29] but it has no detailed plan for the release of all areas containing cluster munition remnants. All cluster munition-contaminated areas are said to be cleared in accordance with county and state priorities.[30]

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 technical survey.[31] It also introduced a new procedure for “supplementary general survey” (i.e. non-technical survey) and enables “exclusion” (i.e. reduction) of SHAs through technical survey, which was not possible under the previous law.[32] There are distinct technical survey procedures for mines and for cluster munition remnants.[33] According to CROMAC, the 2015 law has eliminated the need for standing operating procedures, as all aspects of mine action are now clearly defined in the new law.[34] National Mine Action Standards are also encompassed within it.[35]

The new law has also 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.[36] The law has limited CROMAC’s supervision of the commercial operators.[37] The responsibility for investigating demining accidents now lies with the state attorney, under the oversight of the Ministry of Interior.[38]

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.[39] CROMAC staff have reported that their expert input and feedback on the draft law was not incorporated[40] and that certain articles of the law lack clarity and are not operationally sound.[41]

Quality management

In 2016, during quality control (QC) of cleared areas during ongoing demining operations, CROMAC QC supervisors and auxiliary staff found that in 28 cases, across 10 working sites, mine clearance operations did not meet the prescribed quality requirement and ordered repetition of demining on an area of 45,005m². During final QC, the QC committee established that in four cases demining activities had not been performed in accordance with regulations and companies were ordered to repeat operations on an area of 15,783m².[42]

With the adoption of the new Law on Mine Action, supervision during and after survey and clearance
has been replaced by ongoing QC and final QC. Internal QC demanded of clearance operators has increased from a minimum of 1% of cleared area to 5%, in order to increase the safety and quality of demining operations. In addition, CROMAC QC officers review a minimum of 5% of control samples at least every three days, and final quality management of 1% is conducted by a commission with two representatives from CROMAC and one from the Ministry of Interior.[43] According to representatives of CROMAC and the Croatian Employer’s Association–Humanitarian Demining Association, these QC requirements pose a significant capacity challenge for both operators and CROMAC.[44]

Operators

All land release is conducted by commercial companies and by MUNGOS, a state-owned enterprise. At the beginning of 2016, 46 commercial companies, with a total capacity of 653 deminers, 55 machines, and 42 mine detection dogs (MDDs), were accredited to conduct cluster munition and mine clearance. By the end of the year, this had decreased to 41 accredited commercial companies with a total of 600 deminers, 51 demining machines, and 60 MDDs.[45] Most assets were deployed for mine clearance, with 23 companies undertaking mine clearance operations in 2016.[46] Overall capacity remained roughly the same as in 2015, but use of MDDs increased in 2016.[47]

The tendering process

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. CROMAC believes this model of privatized clearance is faster, cheaper, and more efficient.[48] Much foreign donor funding is tendered by ITF Enhancing Human Security, while CROMAC manages tendering for the Croatian government and European Union (EU) money in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement. The trust fund, “Croatia without Mines,” raises money from private sources.[49] NGOs are barred from competing for commercial tenders as CROMAC views their subsidy by other funds as unfair.[50]

The exception to the commercial tendering system is
the state-owned enterprise MUNGOS, which is directly assigned a sufficient number of tasks by CROMAC to keep it solvent while it slowly phases down clearance operations.[51] MUNGOS is one of the oldest demining organizations in Croatia and, as of May 2017, employed 50 deminers, 11 auxiliary staff, and six managers.[52] A large proportion (two-thirds) of MUNGOS deminers are, however, ready to retire and receive their pension, and the rest will be transferred to CROMAC to perform technical survey.[53]

As barriers to entry into the mine clearance market are relatively low there is considerable fragmentation. Of the 23 companies demining in 2016, 12 cleared less than 1km² and only one company, Istraživač, was responsible for more than 20% of the total area cleared (see table below).[54] The UN Development Programme (UNDP) 2014 needs assessment observed that in the years preceding the assessment, the number of demining companies in Croatia had grown but capacity overall had decreased.[55] A representative of the Croatian Employers’ Association (CEA)–Humanitarian Demining Association reported that the 2015 Mine Action Law had resulted in an increase in the number of demining organizations in Croatia.[56] This rise is in part due to deminers becoming dissatisfied and starting up new firms, and the 2015 Law requires a minimum of only five deminers per company.[57] The current number of demining companies is disproportionate to the number of deminers, and according to a representative from CROMAC, it would be more realistic to have half the number of companies, but to ensure each one is properly managed.[58]

Lower demining costs are said to make it more difficult for firms to make a profit on clearance. Larger firms claimed they were hampered by earlier over-investment in mechanical assets and equipment based on assumptions that funding would match the levels outlined in the 2009–2019 mine action strategy.[59] Some companies have sought to diversify with operations outside Croatia, but given the relatively higher wages of Croatian deminers and the lack of international experience and of brand recognition, they have found it difficult to compete for tenders.[60] An NGO representative claimed that the quality of demining suffers when the price of demining is low.[61] A director of a commercial demining firm echoed this concern, saying that lower prices put greater pressure on deminers to clear more square meters a day.[62] The Humanitarian Demining Association indicated that the 2015 Law on Mine Action has resulted in more pressure on deminers to work longer periods each year, as the new law does not set a minimum wage.[63]

In 2014, CROMAC reported it had started issuing larger value tenders, to allow companies to reduce the cost of their operations, saying that this had provided an incentive for companies to do better planning and to cooperate with each other.[64] A CROMAC representative claimed that although prices were lower, the larger tenders allowed continual work, resulted in fewer stoppages, and enabled companies to negotiate on better terms with hotels and services in their project areas.[65]

However, bigger contracts, some of which covered areas as large as 5km², resulted in companies needing to form large consortia to compete for the new tenders. It was envisaged that four or five companies would form each consortium, but CROMAC has seen instances of 25 companies per consortium, and even of 30 companies bidding together.[66] In some instances this has resulted in disputes over the allocation of funds and areas assigned for clearance within the consortia, often to the disadvantage of smaller organizations.[67] Very large project tenders are also more complicated to draft and demand more time and resources to administer and monitor.[68]

The new Acting Director of CROMAC has subsequently tended towards much smaller project sizes (0.5km²–1km², excluding the EU polygons already procured), which encompass single, specific types of land, e.g. forested areas or agricultural land.[69] These are also easier to administer, monitor, and analyze.[70] The 2014 UNDP needs assessment recommended that CROMAC consider longer-term contracting to maximize use of operational assets in Croatia for both technical survey and mine clearance.[71] However, CROMAC plans operations on a yearly basis, in accordance with the annual and three-year demining plans, which are set by the government. CROMAC is unable to award multi-year contracts because it has to budget year-by-year, and, in accordance with its own by-laws, it is not possible to contract and reserve funds for the next year until the budget is set.[72] Tenders are awarded to the lowest priced bidder, but if bids are unusually low, CROMAC requests additional information on wages and other costs. Tenders are rejected if the costs do not add up.[73]

The UNDP also noted that the current contracting of defined polygons is suitable for mine clearance but would not be conducive for effective technical survey, and called for a new procedure to be drafted once the law is changed.[74] The Humanitarian Demining Association reported that it would be preferable if, where possible, technical survey was already undertaken on project tasks prior to tendering them, so that commercial companies have as much information as possible to accurately plan for the tender.[75]

Land Release (mines)

In 2016, 38.75km² of mined area was released by clearance (38.3km² by operators working under the direction of CROMAC and a further 0.45km² by the Ministry of Defence) and a further 1.39km² was reduced by technical survey.[76]

In addition, NTS canceled 1.77km², and confirmed nearly 1.9km² as mined in eight SHAs during 2016.[77]

Survey in 2016 (mines)

CROMAC’s survey released 3.2km² in 2016[78] (1.39km² through technical survey and 1.77km² through NTS).[79] In addition, 1.88km² of mined area was confirmed.[80]

Clearance in 2016 (mines)

Operators working under the direction of CROMAC cleared more than 38km² from 106 mined areas in 2016, with the destruction of 1,342 antipersonnel mines, 505 antivehicle mines, and 1,974 items of UXO.[81] Of this, some 0.41km² of clearance in 2016 resulted in no mines being found; an improvement on the equivalent of 0.83km² in 2015.

As part of the “less arms, fewer tragedies” program, in partnership with the UNDP, the Croatian Police (under the Ministry of Interior) collected 156 antipersonnel mines, 35 antivehicle mines, and 4,749 items of UXO, which were subsequently transported to and destroyed at Croatian military facilities. In addition, the demining battalion of the Croatian Armed Forces cleared 0.45km² of military facilities, and destroyed 38 antipersonnel mines, two antivehicle mines, and 5,084 items of UXO.[82]

The 38km² of mined area cleared under CROMAC in 2016 represents a slight decrease compared to the 40.6km2 cleared in 2015,[83] and the 1,342 antipersonnel mines destroyed under CROMAC in 2016 was also lower than the 2,435 destroyed in 2015. Clearance in 2016 was, however, accomplished with a reduced average number of deminers per day (an 8% decrease compared to 2015), but a significant increase in the use of MDDs (an average of six MDDs employed in 2016 per working day, compared to one per working day in 2015). Furthermore, there were differences in the type of terrain and weather conditions between 2015 and 2016.[84]

Antipersonnel mine clearance in 2016[85]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle

The combined total released by non-technical and technical survey in 2016 was 3.2km², which was only 13% of the planned survey for 2016.[86] Less technical survey was conducted in 2016 than intended, as funding was used to complete clearance, however the new funding will reportedly focus on increased technical survey.[87]

In July 2016, Croatia signed a contract to demine its border with Hungary, as part of the cross-border cooperation project. The total area to be covered by the project is 1.46km2, of which 1.45m² was demined in 2016, destroying 137 antipersonnel mines, 103 antivehicle mines, and 66 items of UXO during clearance. Of the total project, 3,400m² remained to be cleared as of the end of 2016, as it was submerged under water.[88] Demining of the remaining mined area was subsequently completed in the first half of 2017.[89]

A further 1.75km2 of suspected mine contamination remains on Croatia’s border with Hungary, 1km from the border.[90] As of August 2017, CROMAC had begun planning for how to release this remaining mined area over the next two years.[91]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

Croatia released 1.2km² of cluster munition-contaminated area by clearance in 2016 and completed clearance of cluster munition remnants in Split-Dalmatia county.[92] Output was a significant increase on the 0.43km² of clearance in 2015.[93]

Survey in 2016 (cluster munition remnants)

CROMAC identified and confirmed three cluster munition-contaminated areas totaling 94,270m² in 2016: 28,197m² in Lika-Senj county; 34,369m² in Split-Dalmatia county; and 31,704m² in Zadar county.[94] Of the total area confirmed as cluster munition-contaminated in 2016, part was cleared during the year, and 55,426m² remained to be cleared at the end of the year.[95]

Clearance in 2016 (cluster munition remnants)

Croatia cleared 1.2km² of area containing only cluster munition remnants in 2016, in addition to a further 111,571m² of mixed mine and cluster munition contamination in two areas in Lika-Senj county and Zadar counties, destroying 214 submunitions, mainly KB-1 submunitions in total (see table below).[96]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2016[97]

Deminer safety

There were five mine accidents in 2016, which resulted in three fatalities (all deminers) and four injured (three deminers and one auxiliary worker), all of whom were men aged between 36 and 60.[98] This represents an increase compared to the two antipersonnel mine accidents in 2015, which killed one and injured two.[99]

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 is not on track to meet the deadline.

In May 2016, however, CROMAC had reported that if all planned EU-financed projects are carried out, and dependent on available funding, Croatia still be expected to meet its March 2019 deadline.[100] In November, Croatia acknowledged that mine clearance activities in 2016 had not achieved the levels forecasted, but that the Croatian government and all mine action stakeholders in Croatia were still determined to solve the mine problem and systematize mine action activities so that the main goal and objective of completion by 2019 was still attainable.[101]

CROMAC has reported that achieving Article 5 completion depends solely on financing the necessary resources, as the demining capacities and experience are more than suitable. It highlighted, however, that meeting the 2019 Article 5 deadline “will be very challenging,” based on the overall pace of progress.[102]

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,[103] the amount of land released by survey each year has fallen well behind the yearly targets outlined in the strategy, including for 2016, for which 4.6km² was forecast to be released through reduction, and a further 10km² by general survey. Only 1.39km² was actually reduced by technical survey and 1.77km² canceled by survey in 2016.

Mine clearance in 2012–2016

Note: *Includes 0.45km² cleared by the Ministry of Defence.

The UNDP’s Mine Action Recovery Needs Assessment for Flooded Areas in Eastern Croatia stated that the ability to release land through technical survey would enhance the capacity to more quickly recover from disasters and speed up land release.[104] However, it raised concerns that CROMAC
did not have sufficient survey capacity to enable the release of land through technical survey once the demining law is changed and advised that CROMAC should boost this capacity to fully implement land release methodology.[105] As of October 2016, CROMAC reported it had increased its capacity for technical survey through internal reallocation and that it was using MUNGOS for technical survey.[106] However, as of May 2017, CROMAC revealed that technical survey capacity was still not sufficient to meet requirements, and may not reach full required capacity until after 2018.[107]

CROMAC’s priority for survey and clearance operations in 2017 was to reduce the overall size of SHAs, and to complete release of agricultural areas and areas in the “Kopački Rit” nature park.[108] According to its 2017 Annual Plan of Mine Action, CROMAC planned to release a total of 75km² in 2017: 54km² through clearance and 21km² through technical survey, NTS, and “supplementary non-technical survey activities” (during which control samples are taken to determine the absence of mines and UXO).[109] Croatia, however, reported that in the first four months of 2017, only 4.98km² had been released through survey and clearance, which represents only 6.6% of the Annual Mine Action Plan forecast for 2017,[110] suggesting that it was falling behind its 2017 targets.

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 4.21km² over the past five years, and in 2016 recording the highest annual clearance total in this period, as illustrated in the table below. Croatia predicts that it will be able to meet its Article 4 obligations by the end of 2018,[111] well in advance of its August 2020 Article 4 deadline.

Five-year summary of clearance[112]