A matter of concern is that in BiH around 300,000 people have a carry permit for a total of 1,050,000 barrels, which is more than in the war times

 Sarajevo, 14^th February – According to the official information, at present 19% of BiH citizens are legally "armed", and 15% civilians are illegally armed. A survey conducted by UNDP in the past confirmed that there is around half a million of weapons in illegal civilian possession and that they are often used in incidents many of which have a fatal outcome, which is proved by the fact that "from the end of the war to 2003 in BiH around 8,000 citizens were killed by illegal weapons, and there are quite a few of those who were injured".

As reported by UNDP, "large quantities of weapons in civilian possession is a remnant most of all from the previous war and they are used not only in gunfights but also for suicides, armed robberies, smuggling and even for sale".  According to unofficial information, in BiH a rifle can be bought at a price of 300 KM, maybe 400 KM.

The member of the Parliamentary Defense and Security Commission, Ivo Miro Jovic, thinks that the idea of armed nation, in the case of BiH, has totally affirmed its meaning.

"The very fact that in BiH around 300,000 people, namely 164,000 in FBiH, and 116,000 in RS, have a carry permit, i.e. that 1,050,000 barrels are registered, which is more than in the war, is a proof that this is the most "armed" nation in the world. An additional matter of concern is that, instead of development of pacifism, in this country licensing applications for legal weapon possession grow each day".

At the same time, Bosnia and Herzegovina imports certain amounts of light weapons, which was also confirmed by Dragisa Mekic, Assistant Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH. He pointed out that the import is totally legal and that it is performed under licenses issued by the Ministry on the basis of legal regulations in conformity with European standards. He points out that the imported weapons are used by police agencies, sportsmen and hunters.

"The licensing process is coupled with approvals by the ministries of interior, as they are in charge of control of the activities of the companies-importers", Mekic explains and goes on to say that "many light weapons are imported from different countries, inter alia from Serbia and Croatia".

On the other hand, experts warn that as regards safety, BiH is still facing the problem of arms and ammunition earmarked by its Armed Forces as surplus. There is around 25,000 tons of ammunition, at some 20 locations guarded by 350 soldiers and for maintenance of which the state allocates around two million of KM a year.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina is practically sitting on a time-bomb", Ivo Miro Jovic says and criticizes the Presidency of BiH because of a very slow process of decision-making on the manner of treating surplus ammunition and explosives, for the maintenance of which millions of KM are wasted.

Director of the OSCE Security Department, Urlich Heider is also concerned about the safety of weapons and explosives stockpiles, and thinks that "the problem of surplus ammunition is more serious that of weapons". He outlines for the BiH authorities that in "this year the biggest challenge should be tackling the issue of surplus weapons and ammunition", and reminds them of the tragedy that happened last year in Serbia.

Heider holds that "BiH is able and capable of destroying, without any help, around 3,000 tons of surplus weapons and ammunition a year and in this way completely disposing of them in the next eight years".

The Head of the Common Staff of Armed Forces of BiH, general-colonel Miladin Milojcic, retorts that the sites at which the surplus ammunition and explosives are secured, and that any manipulation of surpluses is impossible. Still, this does not exclude the possibility of threats and risks, as we are talking about huge quantities of outdated ordnance.

"A model of tackling the issue of surplus weapons implies sale, donation or destruction. Up to now around 4,000 tons have been destroyed, last year 1,200 tons approximately. In what time frames the remaining quantity will be destroyed and whether it will take eight years for this depends on our destruction capacities", he says.

In the interview for "Politika", Milojcic also stated that the Armed Forces of BiH have a total of 51 decommissioned sites, including 21 where the surplus ammunition and explosives are stored, and for security of which 850 people have been recruited, which costs the state around four million of KM each year.