BUJANOVAC CLEARED OF MINES BY THE JAPANESE AND KOREANS

23. December 2019.

Bujanovac – Five projects of the Demining Center were implemented in Serbia this year. Two of them were on mine clearance and three on cluster munition cleanup, while the locations, among others, included the municipality of Bujanovac.

The funds earmarked from Serbia's budget for demining operations in 2019 were raised by means of donations from the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan through the International Foundation for the Promotion of Human Security (ITF).

The Director of the Mine Action Center, Bojan Glamoclija, says that Serbia has had major problems with unexploded mines dating back to the First World War.

“We have problems related to mines, groups of mines that we currently have in the wider Bujanovac area, a problem with cluster bombs, large air bombs, and with sunken ships located in the Sava and Danube Rivers. Prahovo currently has 23 ships on the Serbian side of river that date back to World War II and that are armed with landmines, "Mr. Glamoclija said.

He pointed out that Serbia needed the assistance of the international community in order to be able to solve those problems, because the country needed a huge amount of funds.

“We will strive, wherever we can, to get some donations to address all these issues, "said Mr. Glamoclia, who met with the Ambassadors of the USA, the Republic of Korea, Japan and the ITF Director Tomaz Lovrencic on Friday.

Ambassador of Japan, Juuniqi Maruyama, said that Japan assisted with a demining project in the Bujanovac area during which an area of about 390,000 square meters was cleared.

"The benefit of local people from this project is, first of all, their safety and the ability to move freely within the territory. The demining process is very complex and requires technical ability. We are delighted that within this project we have achieved cooperation not only with the ITF and the institutions of Serbia, but also with the governments of Korea and the USA, "said the Japanese Ambassador.

The Republic of South Korea, according to Ambassador Choi Hyun-chan, has already cooperated with Serbia, who cited last year's demining project in Bujanovac and a new project in Nis.

US Ambassador Anthony Godfrey said they had come together to mark a year of successful partnership with Serbia..

“Since 2007, the United States has contributed more than $ 20 million to the removal of landmines and other explosives left behind from the war. Over the past year, the State Department has allocated $ 1 million for demining and dismantling unsafe and stunned weapons, as well as for other security measures in Serbia, "said the US Ambassador, and announced that the US would continue to provide bilateral support to Serbia in that area.

"Together, we are more effective and able to eliminate the threats remaining from the conflict of the last century. All of us together must make sure that landmines and explosive devices left behind from the war period are no longer a threat in peacetime, "said Ambassador Godfrey, stating that he was in Medosevac two weeks ago, where two unexploded mines were safely removed on the football field and two more not far from there.

Source: Bujanovac News and Coordination Body