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Bulgaria
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Bulgaria signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 4 September 1998, becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999. Bulgaria ceased antipersonnel mine export in 1996 and production in 1998. It reported 72 minefields on its territory, which had been laid during the Cold War. Bulgaria believes that existing legislation is sufficient to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically. In 2011, Bulgaria submitted its 13th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.
Bulgaria finished destruction of its stockpile of 885,872 antipersonnel mines in December 2000, well ahead of its treaty-mandated destruction deadline of 1 March 2003. Bulgaria initially retained 10,446 mines for training purposes, but this was reduced to 3,672 by 31 March 2010 and has remained unchanged since.[1] In its 2010 Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Bulgaria also reported possessing 171,050 antipersonnel mines transferred to Bulgaria by Greece for the purpose of destruction.[2] By October 2010, Bulgaria had destroyed 614,882 Greek mines, but the contract for destruction was terminated.[3]
Bulgaria attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2010 and the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in June 2011.
Bulgaria served as co-rapporteur and then co-chair of the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction from 2008–2010.
Bulgaria is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.
Clearance of all antipersonnel mines in mined areas was completed by 31 October 1999, well in advance of its 1 March 2009 mine clearance deadline.
[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2009 to 31 March 2010), Form D; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2010 to 31 March 2011), Form D.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2009 to 31 March 2010), Form D.
[3] Statement of Greece, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 December 2010. Notes by the ICBL. Greece declared that a 480 mine discrepancy between mines sent for destruction and mines reported destroyed by the Bulgarian company was under investigation. Due to delays, the contract for destruction of remaining mines by the Bulgarian company was terminated.
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