Minister Boro Vucinic attended the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation

Minister Boro Vucinic attended the OSCE Forum for Security Cooperation in Vienna on 1 June.

The Forum for Security Co-operation, which meets in Vienna, provides a framework for dialogue between the OSCE participating States on military conduct, and on confidence- and security-building measures.

SPEECH OF THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE ON THE MEETING OF THE FORUM FOR SECURITY COOPERATION (FSC), OSCE
Vienna, 1 June 2011

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!

It is my great pleasure to greet you on behalf of the Ministry of Defense and the Government of Montenegro and to express satisfaction for participating in such an important meeting of the Forum for Security Cooperation.

The main foreign policy priorities of Montenegro are promotion of good neighborly relations, integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, and promotion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

Today, Montenegro is, due to its consistent policy in international relations, recognized as a credible and constructive partner. In December last year we received the official candidate status for EU membership and we are strongly committed to meeting the seven key criteria, as a condition for opening negotiations on membership.
Membership in NATO is also our clear perspective. Therefore, Montenegro wants to participate in global activities on the plan of maintaining peace and stability in the world, the fight against organized crime and corruption, and the fight against terrorism. In this respect we give our contribution, primarily through the participation of our soldiers in the peacekeeping mission ISAF in Afghanistan. We believe that by doing so we actively contribute to the transition process and ensuring stability in this country. We are very close to implementing the idea of Montenegro becoming involved in a joint project of the US-Adriatic Charter (A5) and Slovenia through the engagement of a joint unit of instructors to train military police in Kabul.

In addition to participation in the ISAF mission, Montenegro contributes to strengthening European security and defense policy, and thus influences the strengthening of the position of the European Union as a credible foreign policy and security factor in the world. Namely, Montenegro is participating, through engagement of officers, in the EU NAVFOR Atalanta mission, in the fight against pirates in Somali waters, as well as in the UNMIL peacekeeping mission in Liberia, where two officers of the Armed Forces of Montenegro are engaged.
At the same time, we are developing a reliable partnership with all our neighbors and we have signed agreements on defense cooperation with all of them. Through responsible chairmanship of the US-Adriatic Charter (A-5), we are demonstrating the importance of regional cooperation which presents a precondition for progress in meeting European and Euro-Atlantic agenda. Just last week I was a host of the Conference of Defense Ministers of member countries of this initiative, on the ocasion of which we confirmed our commitment to strengthening regional cooperation and joint involvement in peacekeeping missions.

Among the main challenges ahead of Montenegro are the continuation of engagement of the Armed Forces members in peacekeeping missions, the realization of the first Annual National Programme (ANP), and modernization and equipping the Armed Forces. In order to be able to fully commit to these tasks, Montenegro has to resolve the problem of surplus weapons and ammunition. In addition, Montenegro has an obligation towards the national and international public to resolve this issue in order to prevent ecological and other large scale disasters.

After regaining independence, in Montenegrin warehouses there were 12,136.82 tons of ammunition of great destructive power which was a great threat to the lives and health of people and the environment. From this amount the plan was to keep 2,385.37 tons for needs of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, while the amount of 9,751.45 tons represented a surplus. This amount of ammunition was the result of the war in former Yugoslavia in the nineties of the last century and was not in accordance with the size of Montenegro, or the number of personnel of our Armed Forces. From 2006 to date, the amount of ammunition in our warehouses has been reduced by 5,292.13 tons or 43.60% of the total amount, or 55% of the total surplus ammunition.

Surplus of weapons and ammunition in Montenegro is dealt with through three programs, as follows:
1) MONDEM program,
2) Technical Agreement signed with the U.S. Government on the destruction of small arms and light weapons and various types of ammunition, and
3) Preventive destruction organized by the Ministry of Defense.

Capacity development program for demilitarization and safe storage of SALV (conventional ammunition) in Montenegro (MONDEM PROGRAM) was created as a result of the submitted request by the Government of Montenegro to assess the capacity and conditions for demilitarization and safe storage of conventional ammunition in Montenegro.
The Ministry of Defense stressed, back in 2007, that the resolution of the surplus weapons and ammunition (demilitarization) in combination with the establishment of safe storage, in line with NATO standards, is one of the priorities in work. In accordance with such commitment, the identification of main priorities of MONDEM program was conducted. These are:

- Reducing the risks to the atmosphere and marine environment in the Bay of Kotor by destroying over 100 tons of toxic chemical hazardous waste (liquid melange oxidizer) in line with the best international practices.

- Reducing the risk of explosion through environmentally friendly demilitarization of surplus conventional ammunition and explosive.

- Reducing the risk through the development of safe and secure storage infrastructure and management systems for conventional ammunition as close as possible to NATO standards.

- Supporting the defense reform by destroying a limited amount of heavy weapons by recycling.

In accordance with these priorities, the Ministry of Defense, UNDP and OSCE signed the Capacity development program for demilitarization and safe storage of small arms and conventional ammunition (SALW) in Montenegro (MONDEM program).

In the past four years notable results were achieved within the program, and the most important are:
• Recycling of outdated heavy weapons - within the MONDEM program so far a total of 825 pieces of primarily heavy weapons were destroyed, including 61 tanks, in the total quantity of about 3000 tons.
• The chemical waste and rocket fuel was removed from the Bay of Kotor, in the quantity of about 120 tons, thereby improving tourist valorization of this beautiful bay.
• Within the MONDEM program, destruction of 1,301.68 tons of ammunition and other explosive devices is planned. The first phase of destroying included the quantity of about 450 tons and is fully completed, through delaboration in Montenegrin factories. However, there is a lack of funds for further implementation of this part of the program.
• With a view to safe storage of ammunition, within the MONDEM program, warehouse Taraš was reconstructed, the cost of which was about EUR 1.2 million. The reconstruction was financed through donations from partner countries within the OSCE and UNDP, as well as by the Government of Montenegro. Having completed the reconstruction, we obtained a modern warehouse for storage of ammunition in line with high NATO standards. The preparation of the main project for the reconstruction of the warehouse Brezovik is underway. By reconstruction of this warehouse as well, we will fully achieve modern standards in storage of ammunition.

Within the Technical Agreement, from the planned 1,888.32 tons, about 900 tons of ammunition and 200 weapons were destroyed up to date. I especially emphasize the fact that Montenegro destroyed all the cluster munitions that were located in our warehouses and we have thus met the international obligations with respect to that type of ammunition.
Through preventive destruction of ordnance, 220 tons were destroyed up to date and destruction of another 70 tons is underway. This is unstable ammunition, which, due to low stability of powder, requires immediate action. The destruction of this ammunition is organized by the Ministry of Defense in cooperation with factories in Montenegro qualified for the delaboration procedures, and the financing is provided from the Ministry of Defense.

It is imperative that Montenegro destroys surplus weapons and ammunition. Ministry of Defense is fully committed to this task and is doing so in the interest of the citizens of Montenegro.

 Despite the fact that we cannot solve this problem without the help of partner countries, we are using our own capacities and capabilities to the maximum. Therefore, the Government of Montenegro has decided that all funds obtained from the sale of metal and other scrap from the destroyed weapons are allocated, as a contribution of the Government of Montenegro, to MONDEM program. In this manner, the Government of Montenegro has invested around 1.2 million dollars in the implementation of MONDEM program up to date.

 Also, our goal is to develop our own capacities for destruction of surplus ammunition. To that view, by destroying surplus ammunition in the first phase of MONDEM program, Montenegrin factories Poliex and Tara have significantly improved their work process and have gained additional experience to implement this important program.

The Ministry of Defense is grateful to all partner countries and organizations that have so far made their contribution to the realization of this, for Montenegro, extremely significant task.

If your important support is continued, as it was the case so far, it is realistic to expect that Montenegro will be free of surplus weapons and ammunition in the next two years which would mean that its biggest internal security risk was resolved.

Thank you.