Božinović: Split-Dalmatia County has been cleared of land mines

The goal of the Croatian safe steps-CROSS II project is to de-mine slightly less than 5 000 hectares of forests and woodland from mines and unexploded ordnance. Of the 76 demining sites, 43 are located in the protected area of the Natura 2000 ecological network.

Split-Dalmatia County has been cleared of mines and explosive devices from the Serbian and Yugoslav People's Army war of aggression of the 1990's. The good news was announced on Friday at a presentation of the Croatian safe steps-CROSS II project, at which Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Davor Božinović noted that Croatia has registered a total of 600 land mine casualties, of which 207 were fatalities including 40 de-miners. Luckily, there have not been any casualties of landmines over the past two years. Božinović pointed out that mine clearance in Croatia, which includes proactive and reactive phases, has become a model for application throughout the world.

Minister Božinović said that the Interior Ministry has a broad all-encompassing view of the de-mining system, including the de-miners themselves, auxiliary workers in de-mining, and how to apply their extensive knowledge where it is most needed: "At the moment, about sixty countries in the world are faced with the threat of mines, Ukraine is the closest and most well-known, and we are already very active there. In addition to organizing the first international donor conference there, we have already sent aid packages worth ten million euros. Our people and companies are there, the de-mining of Ukraine has started. We have created a system that is currently the best in the world," Božinović said.

The minister concluded by saying that so-called residual risk cannot be ruled out because there is always the possibility that a single mine is left behind somewhere.

The Croatian safe steps-CROSS II project is being implemented by the Ministry of the Interior with financial support from the European Regional Development Fund through the Competitiveness and Cohesion Program 2021-2027, with a total value of more than €77 million, of which 62% is co-financed by EU funds.

Source: HRT