DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

68
Sho uld a pa rti ci pa ti ng Sta te re qu ire assi sta nce in eli mi na ti ng
su rplus we apo ns or upgra di ng sto ra ge fa ci li ti es, it may se nd
a re qu est for assi sta nce to the OSCE, for the co nsi de ra ti on
of the other pa rti ci pa ti ng Sta tes that may be in a po si ti on
to me et the re qu ire me nts. Pa rti ci pa ti ng Sta tes may pro vi -
de assi sta nce to one ano ther vo lu nta ri ly by ma ki ng expe rt
asse ssme nt of the si tes wi th the info rma ti on pro vi ded by the
re qu esti ng pa rty. After the OSCE ini ti ates a re spo nse to the
re qu est, the Cha irpe rson of the OSCE Fo rum for Se cu ri ty
Co-ope ra ti on (FSC), in clo se co ope ra ti on wi th the FSC Tro -
ika and the Cha irma nship-in-Offi ce, be gi ns co nsu lta ti ons on
whe ther assi sta nce sho uld be pro vi ded or not. 6
The OSCE has alre ady su cce ssfu lly assi sted se ve ral of its pa -
rtne rs, amo ng othe rs Be la rus, Ukra ine and Ta ji ki stan , in de -
stro yi ng su rplus we apo ns and ammu ni ti on and also in
upgra di ng the se cu ri ty of sto ra ge fa ci li ti es. BiH co uld re ce -
ive si mi lar assi sta nce if that this assi sta nce is re qu ested.
The OSCE Mi ssi on to BiH, thro ugh its De pa rtme nt of Se -
cu ri ty Co-ope ra ti on, wi ll co nti nue to enco ura ge the Sta te
and Enti ty-le vel au tho ri ti es to re mo ve the envi ro nme ntal and
pu blic sa fe ty ri sks and to enco ura ge the Sta te to ma ke use
of OSCE pro vi si ons by re qu esti ng, if ne ce ssa ry, assi sta nce
wi th de stro yi ng su rplus mi li ta ry arms, mu ni ti ons and explo -
si ves and also to ma na ge and impro ve the se cu ri ty of the
Armed Fo rce ’s sto ckpi les.
We wi ll also enco ura ge au tho ri ti es to re qu est assi sta nce to
impro ve law enfo rce me nt age nci es’ ca pa ci ti es to sto re ite -
ms that ha ve be en se ized or co nfi sca ted du ri ng law enfo rce -
me nt pro ce edi ngs (e.g. evi de nce) or vo lu nta ri ly su rre nde -
red by co nce rned me mbe rs of the pu blic. This can be do ne
by po ssi bly upgra di ng so me non-pe rspe cti ve sto ra ge si tes
and tu rni ng them over to re le va nt law enfo rce me nt age nci -
es. But fi rst, the BiH au tho ri ti es ne ed to ma ke a pri ori ty of
re so lvi ng the se ma tte rs. n
NOTES
1
The Law on Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into
force in January 2006. Official Gazette of BiH # 88/05
2
Agreement on “Final Disposal of All Rights and Obligations Over
Movable Property That Will Continue to Serve Defence Purposes”
was signed on 27 March 2008 by the Entity Prime-Ministers
and the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers
3
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Decision on Determining
the Surplus of Weapons, Munitions and Mine-explosive ordnance
for the AFBiH and principles of their Solving; 58 th Session
file # 01-011-1599-31/09.
4
UNDP developed the Small Arms Control and Reduction Project
in BiH (SACBiH) in January 2005 to provide for coordinated
international effort to establish proper SALW controls and a
safe and effective logistic ammunition disposal system.
5
OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, 2000, p.1-
2.
6
In 2010 the FSC Troika consists of representatives of Greece,
Hungary and Ireland.