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Key developments since May 2000: Hungary hosted a seminar on the destruction of PFM-1 antipersonnel mines in February 2001.
The Republic of Hungary signed Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997, ratified it 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 Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000; the delegation was led by its Ambassador to the United Nations. Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated in the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. Hungary voted in favor of the November 2000 UN General Assembly resolution in support of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had in previous years. Transparency reports under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty were submitted on 1 October 1999, 25 April 2000 and 30 April 2001.[2]
Hungary is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II. Hungary attended the Second Annual Conference in December 2000 where it co-sponsored a proposal to discuss amending the CCW to deal with “explosive remnants of war.” The annual report required by Article 13 of Amended Protocol II was submitted on 15 November 2000.[3]
A longer version of the Landmine Monitor Report 2000 country report on Hungary was published in Hungarian in July 2000, in the quarterly human rights journal Fundamentum and as a Working Paper by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.[4] Following a joint press conference on 10 July 2000, there were twenty-five media reports, raising the public profile of the mine issue in Hungary.
Hungary informed the United Nations in 1995 that it no longer produced or exported antipersonnel mines.[5]
On 1-2 February 2001, Hungary hosted a Seminar on Destruction of PFM-1 antipersonnel mines, which included representatives of the Russian Federation and East European States holding stockpiles of this mine. The purpose was to discuss destruction methods for large, hazardous stockpiles of the weapon and to develop international capacity to achieve this. At the seminar, Hungary raised the idea of creating a regional mine destruction center at Nyírtelek in eastern Hungary.
Hungary has stated on many occasions that it completed destruction of its stockpile of antipersonnel mines on 29 June 1999. While that appears to be the case, there has been confusion about when certain types of mines (POMZ-2, M-49, and M-62) were destroyed.[6] Landmine Monitor Report 2000 received information that all POMZ-2 mines were destroyed prior to entry into force of the treaty on 1 March 1999. However, according to the military personnel who directed the operation, 16,952 POMZ-2 mines were destroyed on 12-14 May 1999 and on 16 June 1999.[7] Thus, destruction of these mines should be included in Hungary’s Article 7 report.
The UKA-63 antivehicle mine with tilt rod fuze remains a matter of concern, since it functions like an antipersonnel mine. Hungary previously indicated in March 2000 that it had destroyed half its inventory of UKA-63s, and would destroy the remaining 100,000 by March 2002. But, no new information has been supplied. Hungary did not attend the technical consultation hosted by the International Committee of the Red Cross on 13-14 March 2001 to consider antivehicle mines with sensitive fuzes or antihandling devices.
The number of antipersonnel mines retained for permitted purposes (stated to be “development of demining techniques”) is 1,500, and the most recent Article 7 report notes a “change in policy,” with the suggestion that they will be destroyed by the end of 2001.[8] As of March 2001, the 1,500 GYATA-64 mines were reportedly in storage at the MWS company site in Törökbálint in March 2001.[9] In addition, 6,548 inert training mines of the same type were reportedly stored at three training centers and the Ministry of Defense site at Budapest-Háros.[10]
Hungary’s Article 7 reports have included minimal information on destruction methods and safety and environmental standards. Standards are particularly important in this case, because stockpile destruction took place at the MWS site, known to be highly contaminated.[11] By 31 August 2001, MWS is due to submit a full environmental impact report of its activities on the site, including mine production and stockpile destruction, over at least the previous ten years.[12] The report may be “subject to security classification” and the public part may be released in September 2001.[13]
Asked about the possibility of foreign stockpiles of antipersonnel mines in Hungary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied, “There are no antipersonnel mines stockpiled at the Taszár base, used by the US.”[14]
On 12 March 2001, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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.”[15] A member of the Hungarian Ministry of Defense participates in the NATO military working group (SAS 029) that analyses the implications of the Mine Ban Treaty.[16]
The Landmine Monitor Report 2000 noted briefly certain mine- and munition-contaminated areas in Hungary, although the Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 and Amended Protocol II Article 13 reports state that there are no mined areas.[17] Recently, mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination of Lake Balaton and its shores has been discovered. In summer 2000, the water level of Lake Balaton fell dramatically and twelve items of UXO were found, most by bathers, on the southern beaches. On 25-27 September 2000, a magnetic field distortion sensor used in three areas located five more items of UXO. The National Disaster Prevention Board of the Ministry of Internal Affairs concluded, “On the southern shores of Lake Balaton, as well as in the lake, there might still be a significant amount of explosives, such as artillery munitions, bombs, and mines.... There is no Hungarian tradition of bomb and mine clearing in water, there are not enough skilled persons, there is no appropriate technical equipment. At least three to four clearance teams should be established.”[18] A civic initiative in December 2000 to map metallic contamination ran for seventeen days at a cost of HUF7 million (US$23,333), and found 384 objects (171 of them believed to contain explosives) in 212,600 square meters of sixteen shore settlements.[19]
In February 2001, the Landmine Monitor researcher observed emplaced tripwire and other mines in several locations along the sixty-six kilometer border of Hungary and Croatia, on the borderline and inside Croatian territory. The border was mined by Croat forces in 1991, and has only been partially demined since. Mines on the Hungarian side of the border were located and destroyed between 1991 and 1996. In April 1993, a woman from the village of Alsószentmárton was injured by a mine right on the border and underwent a below-knee amputation.[20]
Most of the mines on the border are located in the Duna-Dráva National Park. An agreement with Croatia to establish a joint nature reserve there has been cancelled. One obstacle to the joint national park is the suspected presence of more than 200,000 mines in a forested flood area on the Croatian side of the border.[21] Hungary will now submit a separate application within the framework of the Danube Partnership Program, without reference to landmines.[22]
In 2000, Hungary contributed HUF10 million (US$35,000) to the NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund established for the destruction of antipersonnel mines in Albania. Demining equipment valued at HUF15 million (US$50,000) was donated to Bosnia and Herzegovina.[23]
On 28 July 2000, the Hungarian Red Cross received fifty Albanian (from Kosovo), Bosnian and Serbian orphaned child mine victims between twelve and sixteen years of age. They spent a few days in Hungary, then left for Denmark, Germany, or Norway as part of the Reconciliation 2000 program, which promotes mutual acquaintance and acceptance between children belonging to “hostile” nationalities, and helps them recover from their mental injuries.[24]
The physio- and psychotherapeutic program to aid the recovery of landmine victims continues to be encouraged by Canada and the Ministry of Youth and Sport, but has not so far received actual funding.[25]
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[1] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 658.
[2] Article 7 reports, submitted 1 October 1999, for the period 1 March-27 August 1999; 25 April 2000, for the period 27 August 1999-25 April 2000; and 30 April 2001 for the period 1 May 2000-30 April 2001.
[3] CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report, 15 November 2000.
[4] Tamas Csapody, “Landmines in Hungary,” Integration Studies, Institute for Political Sciences, Academy of Sciences, Budapest, 2000, and Tamas Csapody, “Landmines in Hungary,” Fundamentum (Human Rights Review), No. 2, 2000, pp. 120-130.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999 and 2000 for details on past production and export.
[6] See discussion in Landmine Monitor Report 2000, pp. 660-661.
[7] Personal Communication from Lt. Col. István Molnár, Commander, and Maj. Attila Magyar, Deputy Commander, MH MÜTEK 2 ROAR (Technical Supply Center), Recsk, 20 January 2001. The explosive, percussion cap and primers were recycled for other military use, and the POMZ-2 bodies were destroyed.
[8] Article 7 report, submitted 30 April 2001 for the period 1 May 2000-30 April 2001, Form D.
[9] Interview with László Molnár, Deputy Director-General, MWS plc, Törökbálint, 23 March 2001.
[10] Personal communication from Major László Kiss, Deputy Manager, Technical Service and Support Center of the Hungarian Army, Budapest-Háros, 8 March 2001.
[11] On 11 December 2000, the regional environmental protection body found that “the geological medium is obviously contaminated by gunpowder” and MWS was reported as admitting that, “significant and only partly known pollution had been caused by the military and industrial manufacturing of explosives.” Resolution of the Environmental Conservation for Middle Danube Basin on Binding MW Special PLC to Implement a Comprehensive Environmental Investigation of its Plant in Törökbálint, Budapest, 15 December 2000, p. 3.
[12] Telephone interview with Roland Spitz, Executive Officer of the Environmental Conservation for Middle Danube Basin, 11 June 2001.
[13] Letters from Dr Eördögh Imréné, Assistant Manager, Environmental Conservation for Middle Danube Basin, Budapest, 12 February 2001 and from Károly Kónya, Director, Roland Spitz, Authorized Representatives, MWS PLC, Budapest, 15 February 2001.
[14] Letters from Zoltán Pecze, Head of Security Policy and Arms Control Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest, 12 March 2001, Registry No. 2518/2001, and from László Deák, First Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest, 29 March 2001.
[15] Letter from Zoltán Pecze, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest, 12 March 2001, and personal Communication from László Deák, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budapest, 29 March 2001.
[16] Telephone interview with László Lukács, 27 March 2001. Hungary attended meetings of the working group in Ottawa, September 2000; Paris, February 2001; and Rome, May 2001.
[17] Article 2(5) of the MBT defines a ‘mined area’ as “an area which is dangerous due to the presence or suspected presence of mines” and requires annual reports on “the location of all mined areas that contain, or are suspected to contain, anti-personnel mines”.
[18] István Orovecz, Maj.-Gen. for Civilian Defense, “Háttéranyag a Balaton déli partján végzendõ lõszer- és aknamentesítési feladatok végrehajtásához” [Background Material for Ammunition and Mine Cleaning Tasks at the Southern Shores of Lake Balaton], Budapest, January 2001.
[19] Károly Baranya and Géza Szokolai, “Kié a Balaton?” [Whose Balaton is it?], Siófok (Hungarian daily newspaper), 27 December 2000, p. 1.
[20] The accident was reported to have occurred some two to three meters across the border. See Decision of the Municipal Court of Siklós, Document number: 4. P. 20. 271/1994/20, Siklós, 11 April 1995.
[21] Telephone interview with János Tardy, Deputy Undersecretary for the Ministry of Environment and Regional Development, signatory of the contract on behalf of Hungary, 23 February 2000.
[22] Telephone interviews with János Tardy, Deputy Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development, Budapest, 12 January 2001 and with Mária Galambos, Department of International Relations, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, 15 January 2001.
[23] Report of the Hungarian Mission to the OSCE, 12 January 2001, p. 2.
[24] Népszabadság (Hungarian daily newspaper), 29 July 2000, p. 17; telephone interview with Zoltán Tóth, Coordinator, Red Cross, Budapest, 24 January 2001.
[25] Telephone interviews with Dr Árpád Baráth, 12 January 2001 and with Dr András Blahó, President of the Advisory Board, Children For Children Foundation, 17 January 2001.
