ZAGREB, January 22, 2018 – A mine clearing project in the Croatian municipality of Dvor at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, totalling four square kilometres, has been completed, enabling better surveillance and access to the state border , it was said in Sisak on Monday.
The project, which brings Croatia a step closer to establishing the Schengen border, lasted six months and was valued at 4.6 million euro. A total of 3.9 million euro was provided by the European Union IPA programme.
The director of the Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR), Zdravko Modrušan, underscored that about 300 pieces of live ammunition were destroyed as part of this project, mostly anti-personnel mines. This will certainly contribute to better safety of Croatian border police while preventing illegal activities in border regions as well as enable efficient operations of all border crossings in that region.
This project too has resulted in good cooperation with the HCR which has been continuing since 2006, the director of the Central finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU), Mislav Sovilj said.
A total of 15 mine clearing agreements in eight Croatian counties worth 35 million euro have been signed, Sovilj said and thanked European Commission for its cooperation and support.
President of the HCR Administrative Council, Đurđa Adlešić said that EU funds account for more than 60% of the HCR budget, which is one of the advantages of Croatia’s accession to the European Union.
The EU has financed various mine clearing projects in Croatia with over 96 million euro and a similar financing model will continue through European structural and investment funds.
Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivo Žinić explained that there was still about 70 square kilometres in 10 towns and municipalities in the county that needed to be cleared of mines.
