Romania signed the Mine
Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997. The statement of the Romanian delegation at the
signing ceremony emphasized the need for “financial solidarity for those
countries committed to the Convention but which require assistance to fulfill
their obligations.”[1]
Romania had not ratified the treaty.
Romania did not decide to sign the treaty until very late in the Ottawa
Process. Romania attended all the treaty preparatory meetings, but did not
endorse the pro-treaty Brussels Declaration in June 1997, and participated in
the Oslo negotiations only as an observer. However, Romania had voted in favor
of the 1996 United Nations General Assembly resolution urging states to pursue
vigorously an international agreement banning antipersonnel mines, and also
supported the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UNGA resolution in late 1997. An official
from Romania’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs attended the Regional
Conference on Landmines in Budapest, Hungary on 26-28 March 1998, where he
stated that Romania had started the ratification
process.[2] Romania voted for
the 1998 UNGA resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Romania is a state party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (as of 26
July 1995), but has not ratified 1996 amended Protocol II on mines. Romania is
a member of the Conference on Disarmament and has expressed support for efforts
to achieve a ban in that forum, provided these efforts complement the existing
Mine Ban Treaty.[3] In February
1999, Romania was one of 22 countries that endorsed a statement advocating the
negotiation of a ban on transfers of antipersonnel landmines through the
CD.[4]
Production, Transfer, and Stockpiling
Romanian state factories have produced seven types
of antipersonnel landmines: the MAI 2 stake fragmentation mine, the MAI 68 blast
mine, the MAI 75 blast mine, the MAI-GR 1 blast mine, the MAI-GR 2 blast mine,
the MAIGA-4 directional fragmentation mine, and the MSS bounding
mine.[5] Romania has also been
a landmine exporter; its mines reportedly have been used in the conflict in
Iraqi Kurdistan.[6] On 1 July
1995, Romania declared a one-year moratorium on the export of all landmines, and
later extended it until 2000.[7]
The size of Romania’s current stockpile is unknown, but is thought to be
substantial.[8] At the
Regional Landmine Conference in Hungary in March 1998, the Romanian
representative stated that Romania requires assistance with destruction of
stockpiles.[9]
Humanitarian Mine Action
Romania is not mine
affected.[10] As part of its
contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Romania has deployed an engineering battalion with a demining unit. Romania has
also participated in mine clearance efforts and donated medical equipment,
including a radiological laboratory and a mobile medical unit, to
Angola.[11]
[1]Delegation of Romania,
Statement to the Ottawa Signing Conference, 3 December 1997.
[2] Statement at Budapest
Conference by Mr. Anca Visan, Deputy Head of NATO-WEU Department of the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs, Romania, in International Campaign to Ban Landmines,
“Report: Regional Conference on Landmines, Budapest, Hungary, 26-28 March
1998,” p. 22.
[3]Statement at Budapest
Conference by Mr. Anca Visan; see also, Country Profiles, United Nations
Demining Database, http:www.un.org.Depts/Landmine/
[4]Statement by Ambassador
Petko Draganov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the
United Nations Office and the other International Organisations in Geneva,
(undated) February 1999.
[5]U.S. Department of
Defense, “Mine Facts” CD ROM.
[6]Human Rights Watch Arms
Project and Physicians for Human Rights, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy (New
York: Human Rights Watch, October 1993), p. 104.
[7] United Nations General
Assembly, “Report of the Secretary-General: Moratorium on the export of
antipersonnel landmines,” A/50/701, 3 November 1995, p. 7; Statement at
Budapest Conference by Mr. Anca Visan, 26-28 March 1998.
[8] The Mines Advisory Group
has estimated that it could be several million, based on discussions with
Romanian officials. See MAG Stockpile Fact Sheet, September 1998.
[9] Statement at Budapest
Conference by Mr. Anca Visan, 26-28 March 1998.
[10]United States Department
of State, Hidden Killers, July 1993, p. 146.
[11]United States Department
of State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. C-3.
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