Policy

The Republic of Serbia has not yet acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, even though it played an important role in the Oslo Process that produced the convention in 2007 and 2008.

Minister of Defense Dragan Šutanovac stated in August 2009 that Serbia cannot give up its cluster munitions now because it does not have the capacity to replace them. He said, “We cannot put the country at risk and give up something that we are still using.”[1]

A representative of the Ministry of Defense said in August 2009 that the signing of the convention was blocked by the Army General Staff. The Army General Staff argued that because cluster munitions constitute such a significant part of the army’s arsenal, it would be too costly to try and replace them. It also cited a lack of financial resources for stockpile destruction.[2]

Serbia did not participate in any of the major conferences related to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2009 and 2010 through July. It attended a briefing on the convention held on the margins of the Tirana Workshop on Achieving  a Mine-Free South Eastern Europe in October 2009.

Serbia played a leadership role during the Oslo Process, most notably by hosting the Belgrade Conference for States Affected by Cluster Munitions in October 2007.^[3] This brought together affected states to discuss critical issues for them as the new convention was being developed. At the outset of the conference, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremić stated that Serbia was discussing the possibility of enacting a unilateral moratorium on the use of cluster munitions.^[4] Subsequently, Serbia stated in November 2007 that it would declare a moratorium “in the near future.”^[5]

Serbia participated in the Oslo Process from its beginning in February 2007, and endorsed the Oslo declaration committing states to conclude in 2008 a new convention banning cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Serbia actively participated in the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 and joined in the consensus adoption of the convention text at the conclusion. However, it subsequently decided to attend the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008 only as an observer, and did not at the time provide an explanation for not signing.

Serbia is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but has yet to ratify Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Serbia has not actively engaged in CCW deliberations on cluster munitions in recent years.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Cluster munitions were used by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as well as ethnic militias and secessionist forces during the conflicts resulting from the breakup of Yugoslavia starting in 1991. Forces of the successor, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, used cluster munitions during the 1998–1999 conflict in Kosovo. Yugoslav forces also launched several cluster rocket attacks into border regions controlled by Albania. Additionally, aircraft from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States dropped cluster bombs in Serbia and Kosovo during the 1999 NATO air campaign.[6]

In February 2009, Serbia stated that it does not have the capacity to produce cluster munitions and has not produced cluster munitions since the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[7] According to standard reference works, Serbia was thought to have inherited some of those production capabilities.[8]

The precise size and composition of Serbia’s stockpile of cluster munitions is not known, but it is thought to be a large stockpile, and to include air-delivered cluster bombs, ground-launched rockets, and artillery projectiles.

Jane’s Information Group lists Serbia as possessing BL-755 cluster bombs.[9] Assuming Serbia’s stockpile contains cluster munitions that were produced by Yugoslavia, it may also possess 152mm 3-O-23 artillery projectiles (containing 63 KB-2 submunitions) and 262mm M87 Orkan surface-to-surface rockets (containing 288 KB-1 submunitions). KB submunitions are the dual purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) type. It may also possess RAB-120 and KPT-150 cluster bombs.[10]

Cluster Munition Remnants

Serbia  has a significant problem with cluster munition remnants from NATO air strikes in 1999 which it reports struck 16 municipalities (Brus, Bujanovac, Čačak, Gadžin Han, Kraljevo, Knić, Kuršumlija, Leposavić, Medijana, Niš, Preševo, Raška, Sjenica, Sopot, Stara Pazova, and Vladimirci).[11]

A survey by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) completed in November 2008 identified 28 local communities with about 162,000 inhabitants affected by unexploded submunitions. The assessment found that 88,000 people lived in the immediate vicinity of a suspected hazardous areas (SHA) and were exposed to daily risk. Of these, two-thirds live in Duvanište, a suburb of the city of Niš. NPA found that unexploded submunitions mostly block agricultural land (one-third of the total SHA), impede reconstruction of community infrastructure and utilities (19.9% of SHAs), or impede the rehabilitation of housing (14.2% of SHAs).[12]

The NPA survey identified some 30km² of SHAs containing unexploded submunitions. Based on a partial resurvey of these SHAs, the Serbian Mine Action Centre (SMAC) has identified 260 confirmed hazardous areas covering a total area of 14.3km² and 144 SHAs affecting a total of 8.4km².[13] SMAC planned to survey these areas in 2010 and 2011, and expected the affected areas would be found to cover a total of around 17km².[14]

Clearance of cluster munition remnants

During 2009, three demining organizations with a total of 66 clearance personnel worked on clearance of unexploded submunitions in Serbia: EMERCOM, PMC Inženjering, and DOK-ING Demining. The three organizations released a total of 0.5km² of SHAs,[15] less than half the amount released in 2008, with the destruction of four submunitions. The reduction in clearance is said to be a result of lack of funding.[16]