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Country Reports
Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. The status of the ratification process is unknown.

Montenegro is not known to have used or produced cluster munitions, but it inherited a stockpile of 353 BL-755 cluster bombs upon the dissolution of the State of Serbia and Montenegro.[1]

Montenegro first participated in the Oslo Process at the international treaty preparatory conference in Vienna (December 2007).[2] At the Belgrade Conference of Countries Affected by Cluster Munitions in October 2007, Montenegro pledged to destroy its stockpile of cluster munitions.[3] At the Vienna conference, it stated its commitment to the Oslo Process and to disarmament in general.[4] At the Wellington conference in February 2008, Montenegro stated that it needed help from the international community of states and NGOs in order to destroy its cluster munition stockpiles.[5] Montenegro was a full participant in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008, and joined the consensus in adopting the convention.

Upon signing the convention in Oslo, Montenegro’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Milan Roćen stated, “Protection of civilians, as a fundamental principle of the humanitarian law, should be an integral part of the policies of all responsible governments aimed at building and preserving international peace and security.” The minister praised the convention and highlighted, as a representative of a country recently affected by cluster munitions, the strong emphasis on victim assistance and clearance.[6]

Montenegro is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has yet to ratify its Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War. Montenegro has not been an active participant in CCW discussions on cluster munitions in recent years.


[1] South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, “Ammunition Technical Assessment of Montenegro (First Edition),” 2007, p. 39. The BL-755 cluster bombs were produced by the United Kingdom.

[2] In addition to the conferences cited in the text, Montenegro attended regional Oslo Process conferences in Belgium (October 2007) and Bulgaria (September 2008).

[3] CMC, “Survivors and States Join Forces Against Cluster Bombs,” Press release, 4 October 2007, www.stopclustermunitions.org.

[4] Vienna Conference on Cluster Munitions, 5–7 December 2007. Notes by CMC/WILPF.

[5] Wellington Conference on Cluster Munitions, 18–22 February 2008. Notes by CMC.

[6] Statement by Milan Roćen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference, Oslo, 3 December 2008.