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Key developments since May 2001: In September 2001, Romania was chosen co-rapporteur of the Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction. Romania began its own stockpile destruction in August 2001 and by April 2002 reported the destruction of 130,474 antipersonnel mines. It expects to complete stockpile destruction by 2004, a year in advance of its deadline.
Romania signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 30 November 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 May 2001. On 31 January 2002, at an intersessional Standing Committee meeting, Romania announced that with respect to national implementation measures required under Article 9: “a government decision” was being adopted which “draws the necessary restrictions at national level;” the legal framework for implementation was being set up at the national level; and an “Interdepartmental Working Group” for coordination and developing a national implementation plan was being established.[1] Romania reported on 18 April 2002 that the government decision to establish a “National Authority” in charge of implementation of the treaty remains “underway.”[2]
Romania attended the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001 in Managua, Nicaragua. The head of delegation, Radu Horumba, noted that his country was attending the meeting for the first time as a State Party. He declared that Romania was fully committed to the treaty, and associated itself with the statement delivered by Belgium on behalf of the European Union.[3] At the meeting, Romania was chosen as co-rapporteur of the intersessional Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, a position subsequently carried out by Radu Horumba.
Romania participated in the Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002.[4] At the January meeting, Romania presented a breakdown of its antipersonnel mine stockpile and detailed plans for its destruction by March 2004.[5] At the May meeting, it reiterated its intention to complete destruction by March 2004, more than a year in advance of the treaty deadline.[6]
Romania’s initial Article 7 transparency report was received by the United Nations on 27 January 2002, though officials have said it was submitted on 16 November 2001. A second report was submitted on 18 April 2002, giving updated information on stockpile destruction.[7]
On 29 November 2001, Romania voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in support of the Mine Ban Treaty.
Romania has not yet adhered to Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), and did not attend the Third Annual Conference of States Parties in December 2001. Romania did attend, as a State Party, the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001. The delegation was headed by Ambassador Anda Cristina Filip, who declared that:
The international community has addressed the issue of anti-personnel mines in the CCW Amended Protocol II and the Ottawa Convention. We believe that these instruments are complementary and Romania will initiate next year the domestic procedures for the ratification of the CCW Amended Protocol II, while already implementing the provisions of the Ottawa Convention. We also believe that the time has come to address the issue of mines other than anti-personnel mines...[8]
Subsequently, on 7 March 2002, at the Conference on Disarmament, the Minister of Defense, Ioan Mircea Pascu, stated that “this year Romania will ratify the amendment to Article 1 of the CCW, together with the Amended Protocol II and Protocol IV to this convention. Also it will pursue an active contribution to the Ottawa Convention process, in a period of time when the first deadlines for full implementation of Article 4 provisions are coming to term.”[9]
The report of a Stability Pact mission in September 2001 stated that Romania ceased production of antipersonnel mines in 1995. It said, “No APM have been produced since that date and the production facilities have been converted for other industrial use.”[10] However, Romania’s 18 April 2002 Article 7 Report stated that no information is yet available on conversion or decommissioning of production facilities.[11]
The first comprehensive stockpile data for Romania was given at a seminar in Warsaw on 18-19 June 2001, as reported in Landmine Monitor Report 2001. The total provided of 1,076,629 antipersonnel mines was subsequently corrected in Romania’s first Article 7 Report, to a total of 1,076,839.[12] (See chart below for details on mine types).
At the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2001, Romania announced that “the process of destruction of the Romanian Army APL stockpile has commenced on August 31, 2001, when a first lot of 10,000 mines were eliminated. The event took place in the presence of government officials, diplomats and military attaches accredited in Bucharest.... Moreover, destruction of the entire APL stockpile in custody of the Romanian Ministry of Interior – 27,445 items...was completed on August 28, 2001.”[13]
Romania’s capacity to destroy its stockpile was assessed by a Stability Pact mission on 28 September 2001; the mission was conducted for the Reay Group on Mine Action. The mission assessed Romania’s destruction program as “well prepared, pragmatic, efficient and effective.” The mission witnessed one demolition at the Cislau base, which is being used for open detonation of the MSS mine. It reported that “explosive standards were high.” The remaining stocks are being demilitarized by disassembly under field processing conditions at 15 locations, “although only eight of these are major production facilities.” The mission confirmed that there are “no APM stockpiled in the Romanian military or civil industrial base.”[14]
As of 8 April 2002, Romania reported destruction of 130,474 antipersonnel mines.[15] The cost of destruction is reported as averaging US$1.5 per mine, with the MSS mine being more expensive to destroy.[16]
*There is a discrepancy in the records for the MSS mine. The initial Article 7 Report noted a total stock of 42,660 MSS mines of which 450 were destroyed through November 2001 and a further 16,209 were destroyed through 8 April 2002, giving a total remaining stock of 26,001. However the second Article 7 Report notes a quantity of 26,451 MSS mines remaining in stock in April 2002, or 450 mines more.
Stockpile destruction has continued at a rapid pace since the April report. In June 2002, Romania stated: “As provided by the Romanian National Plan for destruction, by August 2002 the destruction of the entire stockpiles of MAI-68, MAI-2 and MAI-6 types will be completed.”[18] That would constitute destruction of some 267,000 mines from 8 April to 1 August 2002, and bring Romania’s total stockpile destruction to about 398,000 mines. The destruction plan calls for completion of destruction of MSS mines by 30 June 2003 and MAI 75 mines by 1 March 2004.[19]
Both Article 7 reports give considerable detail of destruction methodologies and locations, though the locations for destruction of the mines are different in the two reports.
Romania is retaining 4,000 antipersonnel mines for purposes permitted under Mine Ban Treaty Article 3 (3,000 MAI-75, 400 MAI-68, 200 MAI-6, 200 MAI-2, and 200 MSS.). The purposes for which these mines will be used has not been reported.[20]
Although Romania has provided contributions to mine action in the past, Landmine Monitor is not aware of any financial or other assistance to mine action internationally in 2000 or 2001. Field hospitals in Angola, Kuwait, and Somalia, which previously provided medical assistance to mine victims, were closed in 1997.[21]
The NGO Sibienii Pacifisti (People of Sibiu for Peace) continued its campaigning activities. On 3 December 2001, a one-day seminar entitled “One Year Since Ratification,” was held in Sibiu with a press conference. A poster competition on the mine issue concluded in May 2002, and in August 2002 a national meeting will be held with the title, “Are there any more landmines in Romania?” RNGO-APM (“Romanian Non-Governmental Organization on Anti-Personnel Mines”) announced its formation in September 2001. It is dedicated to the eradication of antipersonnel mines and the “implementation and enforcement” of the Mine Ban Treaty in Romania and elsewhere.[22]
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[1] Statement by Radu Stanicel, Arms Control Department, Ministry of Defense, to the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, 31 January 2002.
[2] Article 7 Report, Form A, submitted on 18 April 2002, for the period 2 October 2001-8 April 2002.
[3] Statement by Radu Horumba, Counselor, Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in Geneva, to the Third Meeting of States Parties, 18-21 September 2001. For details of the European Union statement, see the report on Belgium in this edition of the Landmine Monitor.
[4] The Romanian delegation included: Elena-Anca Jurcan, Deputy Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Radu Stanicel; and Radu Horumba.
[5] Statement by Radu Stanicel, Ministry of Defense, to the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, 31 January 2002. Romania distributed two documents describing, respectively, the antipersonnel mine stockpile and the destruction program.
[6] Email from Radu Horumba, 6 June 2002.
[7] Article 7 Reports, submitted on 27 January 2002, for the period 1 May-1 October 2001, and submitted on 18 April 2002, for the period 2 October 2001-8 April 2002.
[8] Statement of Ambassador Anda Filip, Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in Geneva, to the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001 in Geneva.
[9] Statement of Ioan Mircea Pascu, Romanian Minister of Defense, to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 7 March 2002.
[10] “Overview of Capability Reports,” Reay Group on Mine Action, Working Table III (Security Issues), Stability Pact for South-East Europe, 17 October 2001, p. 7. Ambassador Filip previously reported that production had ceased in 1990—see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 768. The latest production date noted in the initial Article 7 report is 1994.
[11] Article 7 Report, Form E, 18 April 2002.
[12] The difference was an additional 210 MAI-75 mines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that at the time of the Warsaw seminar the process of stockpile accounting was not complete.
[13] Statement by Romania to the Third Meeting of States Parties, 18-21 September 2001.
[14] “Overview of Capability Reports,” Reay Group on Mine Action, Working Table III (Security Issues), Stability Pact for South-East Europe, 17 October 2001, pp. 7-9.
[15] Article 7 Reports, Forms B and G, 27 January 2002, 18 April 2002, and 8 April 2002.
[16] Statement by Romania to the Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction, 31 January 2002.
[17] Article 7 Reports, Forms B and G, 27 January 2002, and 18 April 2002.
[18] Email from Radu Horumba, Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations in Geneva, 6 June 2002. Romania made this comment at the 30 May 2002 Standing Committee on Stockpile Destruction meeting in Geneva as well.
[19] Romania, “Ottawa Convention Implementation Measures: Antipersonnel Landmines Stockpile Destruction,” undated brochure distributed at 2002 Standing Committee meetings.
[20] Article 7 Reports, Form D, 27 January 2002 and 18 April 2002.
[21] Telephone interview with Captain Tiberiu Fratila, Ministry of Defense, 16 March 2002.
[22] Letter from RNGO-APM, October 2001.
