Bulgaria
signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified on 4 September 1998, and
the treaty took effect on 1 March 1999. Implementation legislation was enacted
in 2001.[1]
Bulgaria participated in the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September
2002, where its representative referred to the country’s agreement with
Turkey to demine their common
border.[2] Bulgaria attended the
intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003. On 22
November 2002, Bulgaria voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74,
which calls for universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Bulgaria submitted its annual Article 7 transparency report on 18 April 2003,
which essentially reports no changes from the previous Article 7 report. This
was the country’s fifth Article 7
Report.[3]
Bulgaria stopped export of antipersonnel mines in 1996 and production was
halted in 1998. It completed destruction of its 885,872 stockpiled
antipersonnel mines on 20 December
2000.[4]
As of 31 March 2003, Bulgaria was retaining 3,693 antipersonnel mines under
Mine Ban Treaty Article 3. In February 2003, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs
official told Landmine Monitor that the Army has “not used any of the
retained antipersonnel mines for the education or training of
personnel.”[5] Previously,
from 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2002, Bulgaria expended 327 antipersonnel mines to
train army engineers; this apparently included all training stocks of the
PFM-1C.[6] Bulgaria initially
declared that it would retain 10,446 mines, but later reduced this number to
4,000.
In February 2003, Landmine Monitor was informed that production of the TM-46
antivehicle mine, the only antivehicle mine in Bulgaria’s stockpile
capable of being fitted with an antihandling device, had been discontinued.
Existing stocks were decommissioned and are in the process of being
destroyed.[7]
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told Landmine Monitor that the Army
“participates in joint exercises with some neighboring countries not
signatories of the Ottawa Convention, but no prohibited activities involving
antipersonnel mines are planned or executed during the
exercises.”[8] He said that
the “Cornerstone-2002” military exercise that took place in Bulgaria
from 25 May to 11 August 2002 did not involve the use of antipersonnel mines or
any demining activities. Participants included Albania, Italy, Macedonia FYR,
Romania, and non-States Parties Greece, Turkey, and the United
States.[9]
Bulgaria is a member of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its
Amended Protocol II, and attended the Fourth Annual Conference of States Parties
to Amended Protocol II in December 2002. On 11 October 2002, Bulgaria submitted
its Article 13 report as required by the Protocol. It also continues in its
role as the coordinator of the work of the Group of Governmental Experts on
mines other than antipersonnel mines.
Mine Action Assistance
In 2002 and the first half of 2003, Bulgaria did
not receive or provide financial or other assistance for mine-related
operations, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Landmine Monitor that in
two years time the Army “could prepare and provide demining experts for
training and monitoring of demining activities,” and in four or five years
“a few demining units [platoon size] for operational needs and security of
peace support
operations.”[10] Bulgaria
stated its readiness to assist in international mine clearance operations during
the Fourth Meeting of States Parties.
An NGO named the Bulgarian Group for Demining was established in May 2002.
It brings together professionals from the Bulgarian Army Reserve and police who
have experience with mine/UXO clearance. In May 2003 the group issued a
brochure aimed at people living near the border with Greece, informing them how
to recognize mines and who to inform if one is
found.[11]
[1] See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 133.
[2] Statement by Ivan Piperkov, Head of
Global Security and Disarmament Department, NATO and International Security
Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fourth Meeting of States Parties,
Geneva, 16-20 September 2002. [3]
Article 7 Report, 18 April 2003 (for the period 31 March 2002-31 March 2003);
Article 7 Report, 22 April 2002 (for the period: 1 March 2001–31 March
2002); Article 7 Report, 1 March 2001 (for the period: 5 April 2000–1
March 2001); Article 7 Report, 5 April 2000 (for the period: 27 July
1999–5 April 2000); Article 7 Report, 27 August 1999 (for the period 1
March–27 August 1999). [4] See
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 652. [5]
Email from Ivan Piperkov, Head of Global Security and Disarmament Department,
NATO and International Security Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7
February 2003. [6] Article 7 Report, Form
D, 30 April 2003; Landmine Monitor Report 2002, pp.
134-135. [7] Email from Ivan Piperkov,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7 February
2003. [8]
Ibid. [9]
Ibid. [10]
Ibid. [11] Email from Naiden Iliev,
President of the Bulgarian Group for Demining, 25 July 2003.