Over 2,600 pieces of SALW Destroyed in the Western Balkans to Mark 9 July, the International Gun Destruction Day

Over 2,600 pieces of small arms and light weapons (SALW) have been destroyed in two locations in the Western Balkans marking the International Gun Destruction Day on 9 July, 2015. By organizing national destructions and raising public awareness about the dangers posed by small arms, safety and security is strengthened at home and abroad.

In a destruction event organized by the Kosovo* Police on 9 July 2015 at Shkritorija, Janjevo, over 1,799 pieces of SALW were disposed. Weapons marked for destruction have been confiscated by the Kosovo* Police during their crime investigation work. Montenegro destroyed 857 weapons and 188 pieces of SALW at the smelter in Niksic on 9 July.  

In Kosovo*, Minister of Internal Affairs Skender Hyseni, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Alessandra Roccasalvo and the Deputy General Director of the Police Naim Rexha spoke at event, while Asllan Uka, a victim of the celebratory fire, a common custom in the Balkans, when guns are fired while celebrating, also joined the speakers to share his story. 

The destruction of SALW is supported by the European Union, through the EU Council Decision 2013/730/CFSP, in Support of SEESAC Disarmament and Arms Control Activities in South East Europe in the framework of the EU Strategy to Combat the Illicit Accumulation and Trafficking of SALW and their ammunition”, dated 9 December 2013.

Initiated by the UN in 2001, International Gun Destruction Day serves as a reminder about the threat that excess, poorly secured, and illegal weapons pose to the public’s everyday safety and security. In South East Europe, the problem of small arms circulation and proliferation knows no borders, and as such demands a joint, regional response. 

Since 2002, UNDP/SEESAC has operated under this premise and since its inception, it has assisted South East Europe to rid itself of over 300,000 pieces of small arms. Today’s gun destruction was yet another way of making a stance across borders. 

 

ABOUT EUSAC

EUSAC builds directly upon SEESAC’s decade-long SALW Control work, particularly achievements made through the previous EU-funded SALW Control project, conducted during the 2010-2012 period under the Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP. The project, designed in close cooperation with national authorities, works on the following five interrelated streams of activities: 

  • Increased security of stockpiles: through the renovation and security improvements to storages of arms and ammunition.
  • Stockpile reduction: through the destruction of surplus arms and ammunition held in storages.
  • Improved marking, tracing and registration of SALW: through the provision of support to the establishment or enhancement of existing weapons registration and record-keeping systems.
  • Improved regional cooperation on awareness raising, information sharing and knowledge transfer: through the facilitation of regional cooperation between national institutions tasked with arms control.
  • Implementation of collection and awareness raising campaigns

 

* References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).

 

Back