The Last of 30,000 Weapons Marked for Destruction in Croatia - Destroyed

The last of 30,000 weapons marked for destruction have been destroyed

Louisa Vinton - the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Croatia: \"the world is over armed, and peace is underfunded\"

Evelin Tonkovic - Deputy Minister of Interior (MoI) of the Republic of Croatia: \"we have one life to live\"

The last destruction eliminated 1,566 pieces of SALW

The last 1,566 pieces of SALW were melted at the MIV plant and subsequently casted into various types of commercial products such as valves, fittings, furniture, etc.

On 19 October 2012, less than two years after the Croatian President Ivo Josipovic symbolically destroyed the first weapon marked for destruction, the last of 30,000 small arms and light weapons were disposed of, as a part of the EU supported SEESAC Arms Control Activities in the Western Balkans.

The final, public destruction took place in Varazdin and was attended by Evelin Tonkovic - Deputy Minister of Interior (MoI) of the Republic of Croatia, Louisa Vinton - the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Croatia, Zvonimir Vnucec - Deputy Chief of Police of the Republic of Croatia, Darko Jurčec – Head of the Varazdin Police Department, and Franjo Turek - Director of the MIV – Metalska Industrija Varazdin, together with many guests.
 
This final destruction, organized by the Ministry of Interior and UNDP/SEESAC, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Croatia, concluded a there-part SALW control project that has been ongoing in Croatia since 2010. The project was funded by the EU, under the EU Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP from 11 March 2010, in support of SEESAC arms control activities in the Western Balkans, and within the framework of the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition.

The three segments of the project included:
 

• The upgrade of MURAT, Croatian Ministry of Interior’s central weapons and ammunition storage facility;
• SALW awareness raising and collection campaign which took place in 20 municipalities across the country and during which  citizens of Croatia voluntarily surrendered over 29,000 explosive devices, 2, 705 SALW, over 900 kg of explosive and more than 8 million pieces of ammunition;
• The destruction of 30,000 small arms and light weapons.

“Although we don’t know the exact number of weapons that are currently circulating in Croatia and the region, we do know that weapons are a legacy of the wars in the Western Balkans,” Ms. Vinton explained as she addressed the audience at the destruction event. “In fact, surplus weapons are a global problem. The world is over armed and peace is underfunded. While most of the stock remains in private hands, we should be mindful  of the fact that even government held stockpiles can leak. Given that in the course of one year SALW kill over half a million people, most of them civilians, we at UNDP believe that every gun destroyed is an equivalent to one life saved.” Mr. Tonkovic reminded all present that “we have one life to live.”  He further explained that “today’s destruction of 1,566 pieces of SALW, which completes the destruction of 30,000 pieces marked for destruction by the Ministry of Interior, is important both for raising awareness among Croatia’s citizens about the dangers posed by the small arms and for creating security.” 

The last 1,566 pieces of SALW were melted at the MIV plant and subsequently cast into various types of commercial products such as valves, fittings, furniture, etc. All present had the opportunity to witness the entire process starting with weapons destruction and ending with metal casting.