Key developments
since March 1999: The Mine Ban Treaty entered into force for the Slovak
Republic on 1 August 1999. Stockpile destruction began in August 1999 and
127,781 antipersonnel mines were destroyed by the end of April 2000.
Destruction is expected to be completed by August 2000. Slovakia also destroyed
its PT-Mi-K antivehicle mines with anti-lift mechanisms. It has served as a
co-rapporteur of the SCE on Stockpile Destruction. Slovakia ratified CCW
Amended Protocol II on 30 November 1999, and its UN Ambassador serves as
President-elect of the Second Annual Conference.
Mine Ban Policy
The Slovak Republic signed the Mine Ban Treaty
(MBT) on 3 December 1997, and deposited its instrument of ratification at the
United Nations on 25 February 1999. Officials indicate that national
implementation was achieved when the Slovak Parliament approved ratification of
the MBT on 4 June 1999, making it part of national
legislation.[1] It was
published as a new law on the same date in the official bulletin of the Ministry
of Justice, Zbierka
zákonov.[2]
Complementary to this, small changes to the penal code are expected. According
to officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, violations of the Mine Ban
Treaty law are already covered in the penal codes prohibiting weapons of mass
destruction.[3]
Slovakia participated in the First Meeting of State Parties (FMSP) to the
Mine Ban Treaty in Maputo, Mozambique, in May 1999. The delegation noted that
Slovakia has supported the MBT from the beginning and wishes to contribute to
activities that promote the elimination of antipersonnel landmines. It stated
its intention of destroying all stockpiles within two years, as well as its
willingness to share its expertise in mine clearance, training and victim
assistance.
Since the FMSP, the government has taken an active role in meetings of the
Intersessional Standing Committees of Experts and Ambassador Mária
Krasnohorská of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has acted as one of the
co-rapporteurs of the Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile Destruction.
After the Second Meeting of States Parties in September 2000, Slovakia will
become co-chair of this committee. The Slovak Republic voted in favor of the
December 1999 UN General Assembly resolution, as it had with the previous
pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
Slovakia’s initial Article 7 report as required under the MBT was
submitted to the United Nations on 9 December 1999, and covers the period from 3
December 1997 to 30 November
1999.[4] A second report was
submitted on 12 June 2000, covering 1 December 1999 to 30 April 2000. The
second report is an update on stockpile destruction.
On 30 November 1999, Slovakia ratified Amended Protocol II of the Convention
on Conventional Weapons (CCW). Slovakia participated as a State Party at the
First Conference of State Parties to the Amended Protocol II in December 1999 in
Geneva, but had not submitted its report as required under Article 13 by the
time of the conference. Mr. Kálmán Petcz, Slovakia’s
ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, serves as President-elect of the
Second Conference of State Parties to the Amended Protocol II, which will be
held in December 2000.
As a member of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), Slovakia continues to
support attempts to consider the negotiation of a ban on transfers of
antipersonnel landmines in the CD. In his statement to the FMSP in May 1999,
the State Secretary said, “[W]e believe that a global ban on transfers of
antipersonnel landmines negotiated in the Conference on Disarmament could be
another step that would properly address this issue for the time being and would
be a precious contribution to our final goal - the universality of all bans in
the Ottawa Convention. We must use every opportunity to make antipersonnel
mines unavailable for those who still take recourse to emplacing these weapons
of terror.”[5] That
position was reiterated by Ambassador Petcz at the CD on 2 September 1999:
"Along with our firm and unabating commitment to the Ottawa process, we believe
that the commencement of negotiations in the CD on a ban of APM transfers would
be a very positive step in the right direction. We would see those two processes
complementary rather than
competitive."[6]
Production and Transfer
The former Czechoslovakia was a significant
producer and exporter of arms, including landmines, but when the country
divided, Slovakia did not inherit any of Czechoslovakia's landmine production
facilities.
There was an export moratorium on AP mines in place from 1994, which was
superseded by the MBT. Regarding the Slovak government's position on the
transfer or transit of AP mines by other countries across Slovak territory, in
March 2000 the Foreign Ministry stated that "Slovakia as a State Party of the
Ottawa Convention fully complies with all obligations of the Convention, that
includes also the transfers of APMs (with the exceptions permitted in accordance
with Article 3 of the
Convention)."[7] The Slovak
Republic regards its obligations to international treaties to which Slovakia is
a state party as superior to any other international (e.g. bilateral) agreement,
and therefore Slovakia would not agree to any transfers or transits of AP mines
through its territory by a non-state party to the MBT as in, for example, the
case of a joint military
operation.[8]
Stockpiling and Destruction
As reported in its initial Article 7 report,
Slovakia had a total of 187,060 antipersonnel mines in its stockpile when it
began destroying them in August
1999.[9] By the end of April
2000 it had destroyed a total of 127,781 antipersonnel mines (107,222 AP-S-M and
20,559 AP-C-M1).[10] According
to the Ministry of Defense, the remaining stock of 52,279 will be destroyed by
the end of August 2000 so as to be completed before the Second Meeting of State
Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September
2000.[11] None of the stockpiled
AP mines are of the Claymore directional fragmentation
type.[12]
The mines are destroyed at the Military Repair Enterprise in Nováky by
disassembling them, which is considered the most cost-effective and
environmentally friendly method according to the Slovak
authorities.[13] The Military
Repair Enterprise in Nováky has a higher destruction capacity,
"approximately one million mines per year with possible doubling of this
capacity if required," than is needed to destroy the Slovak
mines.[14] The government has
offered to help other countries in the region, or beyond, with stockpile
destruction.[15] Slovak
authorities have had discussions with countries including the Ukraine and
Croatia about assisting with the destruction of their stockpiles, but in order
to do so, the government would need financial support. Officials at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs note frustration at not being able to make use of its
expertise and technology in demining and stockpile destruction due to lack of
funding and cooperation from other countries in finding financial
assistance.[16]
Slovakia has reported that it plans to retain 7,000 AP mines as permitted
under the MBT: 5,000 AP-S-M (PP-Mi-Sr) and 2,000 AP-C-M 1 (PP-Mi-Na1). The
former can be detected with a metal detector, the latter cannot.[17] According to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs this number may be reduced
further.[18] Retained AP mines
will be used for training Slovak demining experts, and development and testing
of new demining
techniques.[19]
There is no official list of antitank mines retained by the Slovak Army since
this is regarded as restricted information, though new guidelines on what
information should be restricted in the future are under
discussion.[20] However,
antihandling devices fitted to antitank mines have been the subject of
discussions between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.
Following this, all the Slovak Army stocks of the PT-Mi-K antivehicle mine with
anti-lift firing mechanisms were
destroyed.[21] The two
ministries have already agreed to discuss other antivehicle mines that could
function as antipersonnel mines, after destruction of all stockpiled AP mines
has been completed.[22] The
ICBL applauds the government for taking the step of destroying the antivehicle
mines with anti-lift devices that function as antipersonnel mines, and suggests
that it would be appropriate to include this information in Article 7
reporting.
Use
The Foreign Ministry states that the Slovak Army
has not replaced its AP mines with other alternatives, and all training
procedures and military manuals regarding landmine use have been adjusted to
reflect the obligations contained in the
MBT.[23]
Landmine Problem
Slovakia is not a mine-affected country. During
the Cold War, as part of the former Czechoslovakia, it had only a short border
with one country outside the Warsaw Pact, Austria, which according to the
authorities was not heavily
mined.[24]
Mine Action
In 1996 Slovakia donated $10,000 to the UN
Voluntary Trust Fund for Mine Action. In 1999 it gave $35,000 to the ICRC fund
for mine victims. Since 1993 Slovakian demining troops have been involved in
mine clearance in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eastern Slavonia and Croatia, and since
1999 also in Kosovo under the UNPROFOR, UNTAES, SFOR and KFOR missions. As
urged by Article 6 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Slovakia has expressed a readiness to
provide assistance in mine clearance, training, and stockpile destruction.
Slovakia has also been active in developing new mine clearance technology,
notably the demining machines “Bozena,” produced by Willing Industry
a.s. in Krupina, and “Belarty,” by Technopol International a.s. in
Bratislava, which are being used by Slovak deminers in SFOR and KFOR
missions.[25]
[1] Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Slovak Republic No. 121/1999 Coll., On the ratification of the [Mine Ban
Treaty], 4 June 1999. [2] Letter from
Ambassador Mária Krasnohorská, Director of the Department of OSCE,
Disarmament and Council of Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bratislava, 16
March 2000. [3] Interview with
Ambassador Mária Krasnohorská, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr
Marcel Jesenský, Arms Control and Disarmament Division, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Bratislava, 27 April
2000. [4] Slovak Republic Mine Ban
Treaty Article 7 Report, submitted 9 December 1999. Names of the antipersonnel
mines included do not correspond with the original names of mines known to have
been produced in the former
Czechoslovakia. [5] Statement by Dr
Jaroslav Chlebo, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, at the First Meeting of
State Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, Mozambique, 4 May
1999. [6] Statement by Ambassador
Kálmán Petcz, Representative of the Permanent Mission of Slovakia
to the United Nations, at the Plenary Session of the Conference on Disarmament,
Geneva, 2 September 1999. [7] Letter
from Ambassador Krasnohorská, 16 March
2000. [8] Interview with Ambassador
Krasnohorská and Marcel Jesenský, Bratislava, 27 April
2000. [9] Article 7 report, 9 December
1999. [10] Article 7 Reports, 9 December
1999 and 12 June 2000. The AP-S-M is usually known as the PP-Mi-Sr and the
AP-C-M1 as the PP-Mi-Na1. [11] Interview
with Col. Jaroslav Tomas, Head of Slovak Verification Center of the Ministry of
Defense, and Major Frantisek Zak, Slovak Verification Center, Bratislava, 27
April 2000. [12] Letter from Ambassador
Krasnohorská, 16 March 2000. [13]
Statement by Major Frantisek Zák, Slovak Verification Center at the
Ministry of Defense, at the Standing Committee of Experts on Stockpile
Destruction, Geneva, 9-10 December 1999. An article describing the process was
written for the Army magazine: Anton Fillo, “Pozor! Miny!“
Apologia, Casopis Armady Slovenskej Republiky, January 2000, p.
8-9. [14] Statement by Major Zák,
Geneva, 9-10 December 1999. [15]
Statement by Dr. Chlebo, Maputo, 4 May
1999. [16] Interview with Ambassador
Krasnohorská and Marcel Jesenský, Bratislava, 27 April
2000. [17] Article 7 report, 9 December
1999. [18] Letter from Ambassador
Krasnohorská, 16 March 2000. [19]
Ibid. [20] Letter from Ambassador
Krasnohorská, 19 May 2000. [21]
Ibid. [22] Interview with Ambassador
Krasnohorská and Marcel Jesenský, Bratislava, 27 April
2000. [23] Letter from Ambassador
Krasnohorská, 16 March 2000. [24]
Interview with Col. Tomas and Major Zak, Bratislava, 27 April
2000. [25] Ibid.
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