Key developments since May 2002: In 2002, the Hungarian Army found
359,802 explosive items, including 15 live landmines from World War II. In
2002, Hungary manufactured a small quantity of a new Claymore-type munition
(designated IHR), as one part of a proposed system to replace antipersonnel
mines. Hungary has destroyed the last of its antivehicle mines equipped with
tilt rods.
Mine Ban Policy
The Republic of Hungary signed the Mine Ban Treaty
on 3 December 1997, ratified on 6 April 1998, and became a State Party on 1
March 1999. National legislation implementing the Mine Ban Treaty and
criminalizing violations entered into force on 7 March
1998.[1]
Hungary attended the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in September 2002 and
the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in February and May 2003.
Hungary submitted an Article 7 transparency report on 10 April 2003; it was
essentially a “nil”
report.[2] This is the
country’s fifth Article 7
Report.[3] On 22 November 2002,
Hungary voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74, which calls for
universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Hungary is a member of the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended
Protocol II. In December 2002 it attended the Fourth Annual Conference of
States Parties to the Protocol, where it announced willingness to set up and
make available to the UN “an 8-10 strong bomb-disposal expert team,”
and to join in the creation of an international database on explosive remnants
of war.[4] Hungary submitted an
annual report, required by Article 13 of the Protocol, on 6 May 2002.
An expanded version of the Hungary update for Landmine Monitor Report
2002 was published in the Hungarian language in an Army
journal.[5]
Hungary stated in 1995 that it no longer produced or exported antipersonnel
mines. Destruction of its stockpile of 356,884 antipersonnel mines was
completed by June 1999.[6]
Hungary clarified for Landmine Monitor that M-49 and M-62 antipersonnel mines
were withdrawn from service and destroyed in the 1960s. Hungary produced 1.2
million M-49 mines and 800,000 M-62s, some of which were
exported.[7]
Antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes and antihandling devices
The remaining 100,000 UKA-63 antivehicle mines were destroyed in March 2002
as planned.[8] The UKA-63 has a
tilt rod fuze allowing it to function like an antipersonnel mine. The ICBL
believes such mines are prohibited under the Mine Ban Treaty.
Mine Retained Under Article 3
Hungary has retained 1,500 GYATA-64 mines for training and development
purposes.[9] In April 2001,
Hungary reported that the mines would be destroyed by the end of the year, but
the subsequent Article 7 Report stated that the mines would be
retained.[10] In mid-2002, the
mines were dismantled for transportation to the Military Technology Institute of
the Hungarian Army in
Táborfalva.[11] In
addition, 6,548 inert GYATA-64 training mines are stored at three training
centers and at the Ministry of Defense site at
Budapest-Háros.[12]
Claymore-Type Mines and Landmine Alternatives
Hungary has declined to include in its Article 7 reports information on its
MON-type directional fragmentation mines and what steps have been taken to
ensure they cannot be used in victim-activated (tripwire) mode. A member of the
Defense Forces told Landmine Monitor that Hungary retains only “a few
thousand MON type mines” which are nearing their expiration
date.[13] Officials have said
the mines are capable only of being detonated by a control
cable.[14]
Hungary has continued to participate in NATO’s military technology
committee and its Antipersonnel Landmine Alternative project. In 2002, Hungary
manufactured and field-tested a small quantity of the “directed splinter
charges” (designated IHR) that form one part of Hungary’s proposed
three-stage defensive system to replace antipersonnel mines. Hungary plans to
produce the IHR charges, which can be activated only by a controlled detonator,
as a replacement for the MON mines when the latter reach their expiration
date.[15] The Army’s
Military Technology Institute developed the IHR, and is also developing a new
antivehicle mine with an electronic primer, and magnetic and acoustic
sensors.[16]
Foreign stockpiling and transit of antipersonnel mines
The Ministry of Defense has stated that no antipersonnel mines are stored at
the Taszár military area. The Taszár base, its airport and the
Ferihegy airport are used by the US military. The Ministry of Defense stated
that the leasing agreement for Taszár makes no reference to antipersonnel
mines and “contact has not been made between the US authorities and the
Hungarian MoD on this issue. The MoD has no knowledge of any US declaration to
this effect.”[17]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in May 2003 that all transactions
concerning export, import, re-export or transit of military equipment must be
approved by a special inter-ministerial committee, which takes account of all
international obligations and domestic regulations. Licenses are valid only for
specific cases and time-periods. Any application to transit antipersonnel mines
would be refused by the committee, with the exception of mines transited for
destruction as permitted by the Mine Ban
Treaty.[18]
Joint military operations and exercises
The Ministry of Defense has stated, “Hungarian soldiers are not allowed
to use antipersonnel mines abroad during NATO army exercises, and foreign
soldiers are not allowed to use antipersonnel mines in Hungary during NATO army
exercises.”[19] During a
conference on landmines held in Budapest in May 2002, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs stated that neither foreign nor Hungarian forces are permitted to train
with antipersonnel mines at the Taszár base, and Hungarian forces are not
permitted to train or use antipersonnel mines
abroad.[20]
Landmine Problem and Mine Action
Hungary continues to report, in both its Mine Ban
Treaty Article 7 and Amended Protocol II Article 13 reports, that “there
have been no identified or suspected minefields” and therefore no mine
clearance programs in
Hungary.[21] Information on
areas of Hungary contaminated by unexploded ordnance (UXO) and, to a lesser
extent, by mines was summarized in the Landmine Monitor Report 2002.
No military or civilian casualties were reported from either mines or UXO in
2002.[22]
From 21 May 2001 to 26 October 2002, a large area near Nagycenk, in
Gyor-Moson-Sopron County, was surveyed and two hectares of land near a railway
embankment were found to be contaminated with World War II explosives. Seventy
metric tons of explosives were excavated and
destroyed.[23]
In 2002 and 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture turned down requests by a
private logging company for mine/UXO clearance of 25.8 hectares of affected land
in the Marcali forest and eight hectares in the Nagybajom forest. On 4-12 March
2003, Tornádó Trade 2000 Ltd carried out survey and clearance of
151,000 square meters in the Marcali forest, paid for by the logging company.
The operation found 52 explosive items, 5.5 kilograms mixed infantry ammunition,
and 141 kilograms unidentifiable explosive remains, but no
landmines.[24]
In 2002, the First Bomb-disposal and Battleship Regiment of the Hungarian
Army received 2,645 reports of mines and other suspicious explosive objects, and
examined 34,230 square meters of land, detecting and destroying 359,802
explosive items, including 1,142 landmines, found in 58 locations. All the
mines found were practice mines or otherwise inactive, except for two
antipersonnel and 13 antivehicle mines. The live mines were found at former
World War II battle sites, while the inactive mines were found in areas formerly
used by the Soviet troops occupying
Hungary.[25]
The Hungarian Border Guard increased its public-safety patrols of the border
with Croatia, as Croatian organizations cleared landmines from the Torjanci-Lucs
section of their side of the border. An official reported that the clearance
was completed, but “there are still many dangerous locations near the
border.”[26]
Mine Action Assistance
In 2002, Hungary donated $30,000 to the Italian NGO
Emergency, via the International Trust Fund, for victim assistance in
Afghanistan.[27]
[1] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p.
658. [2] Article 7 Report, 10 April 2003
(for the period 1 May 2002–30 April
2003). [3] See Article 7 reports
submitted on: 24 April 2002 (for the period 1 May 2001–30 April 2002); 30
April 2001 (for the period 1 May 2000–30 April 2001); 25 April 2000 (for
the period 27 August 1999–25 April 2000); and 1 October 1999 (for the
period 1 March-27 August 1999). [4]
Letter from Lieutenant Zsolt Nemes, Deputy Head of First Bomb Disposal Regiment,
Defense Forces, 9 January 2003. [5]
Tamás Csapody, “A gyalogsági aknák
Magyarországon” (Landmines in Hungary), Új
Honvédségi Szemle (New Defense Review, Army periodical), No. 10,
October 2002, pp. 64-78. [6] Article 7
Report, Form G, 24 April 2002. [7] Email
from László Szűcs, Arms Control and Security Policy
Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 May
2003. [8] Ibid.; see also, Landmine
Monitor Report 2002, p. 298. [9] Article
7 Report, Form D, 10 April 2003. [10]
Article 7 Report, Form D, 30 April 2001; Article 7 Report, Form D, 24 April
2002. [11] Letter from Tamás
Ráth, Director, Military Technology Institute of the Hungarian Army, No.
273/2002, 23 April 2002. [12] Letter
from Major László Kiss, Deputy Manager, Technical Service and
Support Center of the Hungarian Army, 8 March 2001; email from
László Szűcs, Arms Control and Security Policy Department,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 17 June
2002. [13] Letter from Colonel
István Budai, Head of Technical Engineering Branch, Joint Logistics and
Support Command, Hungarian Defense Forces, 14 January
2003. [14] Ibid; email from
László Szűcs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 May
2003. [15] Letter from Colonel
István Budai, Hungarian Defense Forces, 14 January 2003; letter from
Lieutenant Zsolt Nemes, Hungarian Defense Forces, 9 January
2003. [16] Letter from Colonel
István Budai, Hungarian Defense Forces, 14 January
2003. [17] Email from
László Szűcs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 May
2003. [18]
Ibid. [19] Statement by Colonel
József Tián, Ministry of Defense, 23 May 2001, p.
5. [20] Statement by
László Szűcs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 8 May 2002 at
the “International mine treaties: Humanitarian considerations, and the
feasibility of certain military technology tasks – a national conference
on mines,” Budapest, 8-17 May 2002. The Landmine Monitor researcher was
present. [21] Article 13 Report, Form B,
11 December 2002. [22] Email from
László Szűcs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 May
2003. [23] Letter from Lieutenant Zsolt
Nemes, Hungarian Defense Forces, 9 January 2003; László Szucs,
“Többtonnányi robbanóanyag a föld alatt”
(Tons of explosives underground), Magyar Honvéd (weekly magazine of the
Ministry of Defense), vol. XIII, No. 46, 15 November 2002. p. 4;
“Lőszerek Nagycenken” (Explosives in Nagycenk), Magyar
Hírlap (daily newspaper), 22 May 2002, p. 21.
[24] Telephone interview with
László Major, Head of Forestry Cultivation Department, Forestry
and Timber Industry PLC of Somogy County, 6 January 2003; telephone interview
with Antal Balsai, head of Forestry Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Country
Development, 10 January 2003. [25]
Information supplied by Lieutenant-Colonel Lajos Posta, Sergeant-Major Attila
Jansik, Sergeant-Major Róbert Sulykovszky, and Colonel Sándor
Molnár, commander of the First Bomb-disposal and Battleship Regiment of
the Hungarian Army, 1 April 2003. [26]
Colonel Péter Zámbó, member of the Hungarian-Croatian
Border Guard Committee, “Report on the status of mines deployed and
partially removed on Croatian territory during the Yugoslavian war,”
Border Guard Department, Border Guard Management of Pécs, 26 February
2003, pp. 4-5; Lieutenant-Colonel László Tóth, “Mines
are picked up,” Border Guard Department, Border Guard Management of
Pécs, 14 August 2002, p. 2. [27]
Email from László Szűcs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 24
April 2003. A donation of HUF15 million ($60,000) noted in Landmine Monitor
Report 2002 was effected in February 2003, via the ITF.