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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

The Republic of Croatia is affected by landmines and, to a much lesser extent, explosive remnants of war (ERW), as a legacy of four years of conflict after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Cluster munition remnants contamination was fully cleared in 2020.

Croatia has requested two extensions to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 clearance deadline, and has a current deadline of 1 March 2026. Croatia has considerably reduced the number of hazardous areas, which had originally affected 14 of its 21 counties, but only affect eight counties as of end 2019. Clearance of the remaining contamination is challenging as much of Croatia’s contaminated land is in forested, mountainous areas, where the terrain and conditions pose a challenge to demining.

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia had an obligation to clear all areas contaminated with cluster munition remnants by 1 August 2020. On 31 July 2020, Croatia reported that it had completed the clearance of all cluster munition-contaminated areas under its jurisdiction and control, thereby complying with its Article 4 obligations.[1] In 2010–2020, Croatia reported the release of 5.31km² and destruction of more than 3,100 cluster munition remnants.[2]

The Civil Protection Directorate (CPD) has estimated that there were 2,008 mine/ERW casualties in Croatia between 1991 and the end of 2019, including 523 killed.[3] Since 1998, and particularly after 2008, the number of mine/ERW victims in the country has significantly reduced.[4]

Croatia reports that from 2010–2019, over 140,000 persons received risk education. Public awareness campaigns, and the marking of contaminated areas with warning signs, and have also contributed to reducing casualties over time. The last unexploded submunition casualties recorded in Croatia were in 2013.

Victim assistance services in Croatia function primarily with national funding, but were not always available on an equal basis to all mine/ERW survivors in the country. Social insurance covers most healthcare costs, yet employment opportunities and psychosocial support are not always adequate. Croatia needs stronger implementation of disability legislation. Since 2012, a decrease in survivor assistance funding has led to a reduction in services provided by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Action Plan to Help Victims of Mines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) 2010–2014 has expired, and has not yet been revised and updated, or replaced. By the end of 2019, the majority of services for victims provided by civil society organizations had ceased, while data collection on mine survivors as part of a four-year Swiss-Croatian cooperation program had yet to start.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Clearance Deadline Extension requests

Croatia fulfilled its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 clearance obligations in July 2020, ahead of its 1 August 2020 deadline.

Croatia has submitted two Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline extension requests, one in 2008 and one in 2018. Failure to meet past clearance targets was attributed primarily to insufficient funding (especially during 2010–2014 after the global economic crisis), but also due to overly ambitious targets with regard to the planned release of forested areas, insufficient CROMAC capacity to implement non-technical and technical survey, restriction of certain demining methods in national parks or “Natura 2000” protected areas for environmental reason; and insufficient quality control capacity after the 2015 Law on Mine Action. From 2008–2017, 91.3km² of new mined area was also identified.[5]

In its 2018 Article 5 deadline extension request, Croatia has prioritized the remaining mined areas according to those that: affect safety, pose barriers to the socio-economic development, and impact ecology. Croatia’s goal was to clear all areas intended for agriculture by the end of 2018 and to demine all known minefields by the end of 2024.[6] As of the end of 2019, 98.6% of land that remained contaminated were forest areas, 1.1% were agricultural areas, and 0.3% were other areas such as swamps or rocky soils.[7]

Croatia has developed annual timelines for land release, which will provide a benchmark for it to report to States Parties about progress made in implementing its Article 5 commitments.[8]

While Croatia’s deadline for mine clearance is 1 March 2026, it foresees that survey and clearance operations will be completed by the end of 2025, leaving only administrative and paperwork issues to be settled in the first months of 2026.[9]

Croatia reported that it has sufficient capacity to clear the remaining mined areas in its territory by 2026.[10] Croatia intends to use state as well as European Union (EU) funds, which it is confident it will secure as planned.[11]

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination overview[12]

The Civil Protection Directorate (CPD), within the Ministry of the Interior, is responsible for mine action operations including information management, quality management and planning. In March 2017, amendments to the “By-law on the Method of Conducting Demining Operations, Quality Control, General and Technical Survey, and Marking of Suspected Hazardous Areas” gave the Ministry of the Interior responsibility for quality assurance, supervision of commercial operations and investigation of demining accidents. These roles were previously undertaken by CROMAC.[13]

According to the Act on Amendments to the Act on Mine Action (No. 118/2018), and the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Government (No. 116/2018), which entered into force on 1 January 2019, CROMAC and the Government Office for Mine Action (GOMA) ceased to exist. They are now an integrated part of the Ministry of the Interior, forming a CPD department. This was seen as an important step by Croatia in forming an integrated and functioning civil protection system.[14]

Strategies and policies

The Ministry of the Interior was preparing a new Act on Mine Action, along with a corresponding new National Mine Action Strategy and Work Plan, which would cover the period 2020–2026.[15]

Gender equality is specified in the Government of Croatia’s 2016–2020 term of office as a separate objective. The gender policies of Croatia are duly implemented within the framework of mine action, and in particular with regard to risk education activities.[16]

Legislation and standards

The Mine Action Law was adopted by Croatia’s parliament on 21 October 2015, and incorporates updates from the latest International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), specifically those related to the use of technical survey to confirm the presence of contamination.[17]

Information management

Information about hazardous areas is recorded on the Mine Information System, which is the basis for the production of maps of these areas disseminated to local authorities and the public.[18]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[19]

Coordination

The risk education department within CROMAC was transferred to the National Education Center, which operates under the CPD within the Ministry of the Interior. The awareness-raising activities of the Department for Prevention and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Counter Explosives Department of the Police Directorate are also coordinated under the Ministry of Interior.[20]

Risk education is coordinated at the regional level in Croatia through five large area offices of the National Education Center, which also runs 15 smaller branch offices.[21]

National standards and guidelines

Risk education is integrated into the National Mine Action Strategy. The 2020–2026 strategy was being developed, as of April 2020.[22] There were no specific national risk education standards.[23]

Internal evaluation of risk education activities is conducted on an annual basis.[24] The CPD reports that the decline in the number of new casualties, particularly since 2008, indicates the effectiveness of risk education activities in Croatia.[25]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[26]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war; and UXO=unexploded ordnance.

Laws and policies

The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in Croatia, including in accessing education, employment, healthcare, buildings and transportation, yet it was not always effectively enforced. While the law mandates access to buildings for persons with disabilities, enforcement measures were lacking.[27] Every employer with at least 20 employees is required by law to fulfill an employment quota of persons with disabilities in appropriate working conditions.[28]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination (as of December 2019)[29]

* It is estimated that these areas contain 22,012 antipersonnel mines and 2,096 antivehicle mines. In addition, there is 31.4km² containing an estimated 15,276 antipersonnel mines under the control of the Ministry of Defence)

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war; and SHA=suspected hazardous area.

Croatia is affected by mines and, to a much lesser extent, ERW, as a legacy of four years of armed conflict after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Croatia’s cluster munition remnants contamination was reported to have been fully cleared by 31 July 2020.

At the end of 2019, eight of Croatia’s 21 counties were still contaminated by landmines.[30] In those eight counties, 98.6% of remaining contaminated land was located in forest areas, while 1.1% was in agricultural areas, and 0.3% was in other areas such as swamps or rocky soils.[31]

Mine contamination prevents safe use of land for livestock and forestry-related activities. There is comprehensive hazard marking of mined areas, with at least 11,540 warning signs in place.[32]

Casualties

Casualties overview[33]

Casualties in 2019: details

Two landmine casualties were recorded in Croatia in 2019. A civilian was injured by an antivehicle mine, while one deminer was injured by an antipersonnel mine.[34]

There were no mine/ERW casualties in Croatia in 2018 or 2017.[35] Croatia reported that 2017 was the first year since it became contaminated with mines/ERW in the 1990s that no new mine victims were recorded. The last child antipersonnel mine casualty in Croatia was reported in 2004.[36]

Since 2008, there have been 29 deminer casualties and 21 civilian mine/ERW casualties in Croatia. Since 1998, and particularly from 2008 onward, the number of mine/ERW victims in Croatia has reduced significantly, primarily due to risk education programs.[37]

Based on previous Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) reported data, the Monitor has recorded 1,989 mine/ERW casualties for Croatia between 1991 and the end of 2019: 515 people killed, 1,443 injured, and 31 with survival unknown.[38] The CPD has estimated that there have been 2,008 mine/ERW casualties in Croatia in total, between 1991 and the end of 2019, with 523 killed. A Mine Victim Survey will be conducted as part of the Demining and Socio-economic Integration Project, which should provide a more accurate figure.[39]

Cluster munition remnants casualties

There have been at least 241 cluster munition remnant casualties in Croatia, with the last casualties reported in September 2013 when three members of the Demining Battalion of the Engineering Regiment were involved in an accident (one deminer was killed and two injured) during clearance of scattered ordnance, including submunitions, at the site of an ammunition storage explosion in Pađene.[40] From 1993–2013, 35 casualties of unexploded submunitions were reported, while from 1993–1995, at least 206 casualties occurred during cluster munition strikes in Croatia.[41]

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Operators and service providers

Clearance operators

As a result of conditions related to earlier World Bank funding, Croatia introduced a market model for its demining operations in 1998, with almost all civil clearance conducted by local companies competing for tenders. NGOs are barred from competing for commercial tenders. The number of commercial companies involved in demining has grown from four accredited companies at the end of 1998, to 44 in 2019.[42] These demining companies are reported to be certified, and are competent to perform manual and mechanical demining methods, including the use of mine detection dogs.[43]

Clearance

Land release overview[44]

* In 2016, a further 0.1km² of mixed landmine and cluster munition contamination in Croatia was cleared.

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Land release: landmines

In 1996, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimated that more than 13,000km² of land was potentially contaminated by mines in Croatia.

In 2003–2004, Croatia’s entire territory was surveyed, resulting in the identification of 1,174km² of hazardous areas. Continuous re-survey was undertaken during 2005 and 2006, resulting in the reduction of the hazardous areas to a total of 1,044km² at the beginning of 2007.

Areas for priority clearance are determined by the national authorities, based on the list of priorities per municipality and polygons issued by counties. Operators do not take part in prioritization.[45]

From 2015–2019, more than 51km² of land previously suspected to be contaminated was released through survey.[46] By the end of 2019, Croatia had reduced the hazardous area to 341.1km² through demining and survey.

Considering its current clearance capacity and the type of terrain in remaining mined areas, Croatia expects to release roughly 56km² per year over its second extension period, totaling 287.4km² over seven years.[47] By comparison, in the seven-year period 2011–2017, a total of 440km² was released (238km² through clearance and 202km² though survey), which included a significant amount of land that was cancelled in 2011–2015.[48] Survey is planned to take place between 2019 and 2025, and any resulting clearance is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

In 2019, 39.16km² of land was reported cleared (38.86km² by operators working under the direction of the CPD, and a further 0.3km² by the Croatian Army), and a further 7km² was released by technical and non-technical survey.[49]

Land release: cluster munition remnants

Croatia finished clearance of all known cluster munition contaminated areas under its jurisdiction and control in July 2020 before its deadline of 1 August 2020. The declaration of compliance was finalized as of 31 July 2020.[50]

In 2019, a total of 243,948m² was reported to have been released by clearance or survey in two counties.[51]

An area in Lika-Senj county was released through non-technical survey in 2019, leaving only three administrative counties contaminated with cluster munition remnants, while an additional 0.01km² of previously unrecorded cluster munition remnant contamination was also discovered, although the location was not reported.[52]

Police

As part of the “Less Arms, Less Tragedies” campaign, the Croatian Police, under the Ministry of the Interior and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), educate civilians to hand in all forms of ERW without any legal penalties or repercussions. The ordnance is then transferred and destroyed at Croatian military facilities.[53] In 2019, among a large arsenal of small arms and light weapons, the Ministry of the Interior collected 103 pieces of antipersonnel mines, 38 pieces of antivehicle mines, and 12 pieces of cluster munition remnants.[54]

Borders

Hazardous areas have been reported along Croatia’s borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Hungary, and Serbia. Croatia has reported mutual cooperation and information exchange with BiH on hazardous border areas, and the exchange of equipment and technology continued in 2019.[55]

Deminer safety

In 1998, 15 deminers were involved in mine/ERW accidents in Croatia. This number has decreased over the years, which is attributed to the increased use of machinery, better-quality detectors and equipment, and more rigorous quality assurance processes.[56]

Since 1998, a total of 132 deminers have been involved in accidents in Croatia, of which 38 died.[57] The Act on Mine Action details the protection measures for deminers during demining operations and the criminal and misdemeanor liability in the case of non-compliance.[58]

Residual hazards

Croatia states that an important step was taken in 2019 in order to address residual contamination once treaty obligations have been met, by integrating CROMAC within the Ministry of the Interior.

Residual risk will be handled by the EOD teams of the Police Directorate, and by the CPD.[59]

The Ministry of the Interior will be the focal point for residual contamination issues, through its management of the Mine Information System database.[60]

Risk Education

Operators and service providers

Risk education operators overview[61]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Beneficiary numbers

In 2019, over 20,000 beneficiaries received risk education, including 25 civil protection officers.[62]

Target groups

In order to reach a greater number of people, CROMAC has developed a mobile phone application that warns the user if approaching or entering a suspected hazardous area. The application includes a “call for help” option, and an option to report the discovery of a suspected explosive device.[63]

Although risk education is not integrated into the school curriculum,[64] schoolchildren and college students living in affected counties are the primary risk education target in Croatia.[65] In 2019, the majority of risk education beneficiaries were children, who received messages through sessions tailored for children.[66] Members of hunting associations, the mountain rescue service, firefighters, forestry workers, hikers, farmers and tourists also received tailored risk education sessions.[67]

Risk education was provided in 2019 across all 17 counties that are affected by mines/ERW, while programs and methodologies were gender, age and disability-sensitive.[68]

Through the “Less Arms, Less Tragedies” campaign, citizens were informed about the dangers of unexploded weapons, while being encouraged to surrender any ERW left over from the conflict.[69]

Marking

Croatia marks suspected hazardous areas and includes these areas in its Mine Information System. Maps of hazardous areas are shared with local authorities, police, and also with the general public through the Mine Information System web portal.[70]

Major developments in 2019

Croatia declared April as “Mine Awareness Month,” and in addition to marking International Mine Awareness Day on 4 April, a mine/ERW awareness media campaign was implemented through radio and television. Mine Awareness Day is implemented with the cooperation of the Ministry of the Interior, the Croatian Red Cross, the association “Croatia Helps”, the National Protection and Rescue Directorate, and other stakeholders.[71]

Victim Assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Victim assistance operators overview[72]

Major Developments in 2019

The majority of victim assistance services provided by civil society organizations in Croatia have ceased.[73] The provision of continuing psychosocial support remained weak.[74]

Needs assessment

A four-year Swiss-Croatian cooperation program will fund the establishment of a comprehensive mine/ERW victim database, as part of the Demining and Socio-Economic Integration Project. The program will also include an assessment of the needs of survivors, to be recorded on the database, and the provision of training and other services aiming to increase the employability of victims.[75] The survey was expected to start in the first half of 2020.[76]

Medical care and rehabilitation

All mine/ERW survivors were entitled to healthcare and social protection measures. The Croatian Institute for Health Insurance provides healthcare and covers the costs of basic orthopedic devices for mine/ERW survivors.[77] There are 21 county-level institutes for emergency healthcare,[78] and all general and clinical hospitals in Croatia have surgical capacity.[79] Croatian Army helicopters are deployed when urgent transport of patients to a medical facility is required.[80]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

There are psychosocial interdisciplinary centers in all 21 counties of Croatia. Four of these centers are regional facilities providing psychological services.[81]

Cross-cutting

Access to physical rehabilitation services for people living in remote areas remained an issue.[82]