Policy

The Slovak Republic has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

On 15 January 2014, the government approved a draft action plan to begin the process of Slovakia’s accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2014 by submitting the accession package to the government and parliament so that the instrument of accession can be deposited by 30 June 2015.[1] The plan lists five measures to ensure the implementation of Slovakia’s commitment to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including an immediate ban on the use of cluster munitions, “drafting the necessary legislative changes and other necessary measures related to the implementation of the convention,” and the preparation and submission of the accession package to the government. According to the plan, the Ministry of Defense is responsible for ensuring the destruction of stockpiled cluster munitions with a budget prepared by the Ministry of Finance.

In an April 2014 letter to the CMC, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák said that by approving the national action plan, the Slovak government has “made a serious political commitment and significant step towards the accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in a realistic timeframe.” According to Lajčák, the plan “defines practical measures and assigns specific tasks to relevant departments” to address all of the convention’s obligations and “identifies possible obstacles and puts forward optimal solutions.”[2]

The action plan was prepared on the basis of Resolution 810 of 6 November 2008 on the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The plan includes an explanatory note that concludes, “from the foreign policy point of view, it is undoubtedly beneficial and appropriate to accede to the convention.” The note lists the factors that have contributed to Slovakia’s decision to accede to the convention, including pressure from the international community including Amnesty International Slovakia as well as the Convention on Cluster Munitions’ “strong normative impact.” It finds that not joining the convention would have negative consequences for Slovakia, warning that the “inflexible and vague approach of non-signatory countries is unsustainable and may result in unnecessary isolation and significant international pressure on several fronts (political, economic, defense, security).” According to the note, due to public opinion “any use of cluster munitions by a party to an armed conflict would lead to the loss of its moral support from the international community.”

As a producer and exporter of cluster munitions, Slovakia previously cited economic concerns as a reason preventing it from joining the convention.[3] The explanatory note concludes that any “possible further export activities of cluster munitions can seriously damage the reputation of the foreign policy of the Slovak Republic” and finds “it is clear that under the influence of the convention, the markets for trading in banned cluster munitions will increasingly narrow and investment in this area will have little prospect.” According to the note, any loss of profit or jobs related to stopping the production of cluster munitions can be mitigated by redirecting production capacity to the destruction and delaboration of stockpile cluster munitions.

Another factor behind Slovakia’s decision is the failure of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) efforts in November 2011 to conclude a draft protocol on cluster munitions. As a party to the CCW, Slovakia previously expressed its support for a CCW instrument on cluster munitions.[4] According to the explanatory note, this “clearly determines the next steps” for Slovakia as the failure to conclude a CCW protocol on cluster munitions leaves the Convention on Cluster Munitions as “the only valid international instrument” that addresses the issue of cluster munitions.

Slovakia actively participated throughout the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but repeatedly expressed its opposition to a categorical ban on cluster munitions. Slovakia joined the consensus adoption of the convention in Dublin in May 2008, but participated only as an observer in the convention’s Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008. The explanatory note states that after a review of the convention on 6 November 2008, the government of Slovakia decided not to sign in December 2008.[5]

Slovakia has engaged in some meetings relating to the Convention on Cluster Munitions since 2011, despite not joining. It participated as an observer in the convention’s Meetings of States Parties in 2011 and 2012, but did not attend the Third Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Slovakia has not participated in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, such as those held in April 2014.

Slovakia has voted in favor of recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munitions, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[6]

Slovakia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Use

In his April 2014 letter, the Deputy Prime Minister states that “the Ministry of Defence of Slovakia has already banned the use of cluster munitions by the Slovak army.”[7] Previously, in 2009 and 2010, Slovakia stated “the Armed Forces have not used and will not use cluster munitions ever in the military operations outside of the territory of the Slovak Republic.”[8] In 2009, the Minister of Defense stated that cluster munitions are not in service with Slovak troops deployed in military operations outside the territory of the Slovak Republic.[9]

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Slovakia has produced, exported, and imported cluster munitions in the past and has a stockpile.

In April 2014, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that “Slovakia has already stopped producing cluster munitions.”[10] He also stated that Slovakia’s “export control policy on cluster munitions does not allow for export or transfer of cluster munitions” in accordance with the requirements of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[11]

Previously, in May 2010, Slovakia announced that its armed forces had “adopted a new policy of not purchasing cluster munitions” but until the action plan was approved in January 2014, it had never made a public statement that it was no longer producing cluster munitions or committing to no further production.[12]

The action plan’s explanatory note contains a section on “economic aspects” that lists the Slovakian company “ZVS Holding” as “the only manufacturer” of cluster munitions and describes ZVS Holding as the “research and development” wing of Konštrukta Defence (previously referred to by the Monitor as “KONŠTRUKTA Defence a.s.”). According to the note, ZVS Holding manufactured two types of cluster munitions:

A 152mm artillery projectile containing dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) type submunitions with a “self-destructing” capability.[13]

A 122mm “AGAT” rocket containing 50 dual-purpose and six incendiary submunitions; both types of submunition can self-destruct.

ZVS Holding apparently also offered a 98mm K-PT mortar bomb containing self-destructing DPICM-type submunition but it appears that “development closed” on this munition.[14]

According to the explanatory note, the “final delivery” of cluster munitions to “foreign partners” was in February 2010. The note states that ZVS Holding produced 8,680 122mm AGAT rockets for Turkey and the United Arab Emirates between 1998 and 2010, and 602 cluster munitions for Slovakia’s Ministry of Defence between 1998 and 2001. According to the note, anticipated exports to Cyprus, Poland, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates were not concluded.[15]

The explanatory note finds that Slovakia’s accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions will have some impact on ZVS Holding’s business sector and estimated that it would directly affect approximately 100 production workers, technicians and administrative staff in addition to 50 other Slovak subcontractors.[16]

Cluster Munition Monitor previously listed Slovakian company Technopol International as involved in the production of the AGAT 122mm cargo ammunition, but its relationship to ZVS Holding is presently unclear.[17] Technopol held licenses for the export of cluster munitions.[18]

Stockpiling

In January 2014, as part of the adoption of its national action plan on joining the convention, Slovakia publicly disclosed information on the types and quantities of its 899 stockpiled cluster munitions, as detailed in the following table.

Cluster munitions stockpiled by Slovakia (January 2014)[19]

Previously, in 2010, the Ministry of Defense informed the Monitor that the stockpile was comprised of M26 rockets,[20] 122mm AGAT rockets, RBK bombs, and KMG-U dispensers, but did not provide any information on the quantities.[21]

In April 2014, the Deputy Prime Minister stated that Slovakia is “determined to honor our obligation and seek the necessary resources” to destroy the stockpile despite the technical demands and resources required from the national budget.[22] The national action plan estimates that this implementation of the convention’s obligations will cost approximately €5.5 million in 2016–2023.[23]