Country & Territory Reports - Landmine Action

Background
Greece was invaded and occupied by Italian and German
forces during the 1939-45 War and sporadic clashes took
place between occupying troops and Greek Partisans. Until
recently, relations with Turkey have been tense although,
like Turkey, Greece is a member of NATO.
Assessment of the problem
Greece is believed to be the only EU country which still
uses landmines. MOTAPM and AP mines are maintained on
its border with Turkey, along the Evros River in northern
Greece. There are also mined areas dating from the Greek
civil war (1947-1949) in the Epirus, Grammos and Vitsi
mountains, and in areas near the border with Bulgaria. A
press report in October 2001 described the Epirus,
Grammos and other mountains in the western Macedonia
region as “still not safe for anyone crossing the slopes”. 776
There are also nine mine/UXO-suspected areas in the
Aegean islands and five suspected areas on the mainland,
plus Yaros island which was used previously as a test-firing
range and thus likely to contain substantial quantities or
ERW. 777 According to a Defence official, there are a total of
41 areas in Greece suspected to be mine/UXOcontaminated,
mostly in the Grammos and Vitsi
mountains, and 28 known minefields in the Grammos and
Vitsi which will be cleared and given for public use. 778 The
minefields along the Turkish border include MOTAPM. 779
This is reportedly well maintained, clearly marked, and
cordoned off by a 1.60 metre-high metal fence while red
phosphorescent triangles give a clear warning with the
word “mines” in Greek and English 780 . However there are
reports that not all minefields are this well marked. 781
greece 73
745 Email to R. Sathre and I. Grdzelishvili, from David McMahon, HALO Trust-Abkhazia, 27 July 2004.
746 Data derived from Excel spreadsheet of Abkhazian mine/UXO victims, provided by David McMahon, HALO Trust-Abkhazia, 27 July 2004.
747 Email to R. Sathre and I. Grdzelishvili, from David McMahon, HALO Trust-Abkhazia, 27 July 2004.
748 Interview with Narine Berikashvili, International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Georgian Committee, Tbilisi, 23 July 2004.
749 It should be noted that significant discrepancies exist between casualty figure provided by ICBL-Georgian Committee and those provided by HALO
Trust-Abkhazia and it was not possible to get a response from the ICBL-GC to requests for clarification.
750 Email to R. Sathre and I. Grdzelishvili, from David McMahon, HALO Trust-Abkhazia, 27 July 2004.
751 Email to R. Sathre, from Zbigniew Fec, OSCE-Georgia Mission, 27 June 2004.
752 “Georgia: An explosive trade”, 19 July 2003, Caucasus Reporting Service, http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200307-187_4_eng.txt,
accessed 30 August 2004.
753 “Potis Terminali nagmebze zis” (“Terminal in Poti is full of mines”), 23-29 June 2004, weekly magazine Sarke (in Georgian).
754 “Georgia: An explosive trade”, 19 July 2003, Caucasus Reporting Service, http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200307-187_4_eng.txt,
accessed 30 August 2004.
755 “Tavaxdili jebi tboilisshi da ‘danagmuli’ jarti” (“Manholes without covers and ‘mined’ scrap metal”), 10-16 November 2003, weekly newspaper
Kviris Palitra (in Georgian).
756 “Potis Terminali nagmebze zis” (“Terminal in Poti is full of mines”), 23-29 June 2004, weekly magazine Sarke (in Georgian).
757 “Georgia: An explosive trade”, 19 July 2003, Caucasus Reporting Service, http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200307-187_4_eng.txt,
accessed 30 August 2004.
758 “Georgia: An explosive trade”, 19 July 2003, Caucasus Reporting Service, http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200307-187_4_eng.txt,
accessed 30 August 2004.
759 “Tavaxdili jebi tboilisshi da ‘danagmuli’ jarti” (“Manholes without covers and ‘mined’ scrap metal”), 10-16 November 2003, weekly newspaper
Kviris Palitra (in Georgian).
760 “Tensions grow, as Abashidze shows no signs of backing down”, 4 May 2004, Civil.ge, UNA-Georgia Online Magazine, http://www.civil.ge, accessed
19 May 2004.
761 Interview with Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, Tbilisi, 20 July 2004.
762 “Mine blast injures seven in Adjara”, 22 August 2004, Civil.ge, UNA-Georgia Online Magazine, http://www.civil.ge, accessed 23 August 2004.
763 http://www.newsgeorgia.ge/news.html?nws_id=287509, accessed 23 August 2004. (in Georgian).
764 Interview with Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs offical, Tbilisi, 20 July 2004.
765 Landmine Monitor 2003, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/georgia.html, accessed 26 March 2004.
766 Landmine Monitor 2003, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/georgia.html, accessed 26 March 2004.
767 Landmine Monitor 2003, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/abkhazia.html, accessed 26 March 2004.
768 The HALO Trust, http://www.halotrust.org/abkhazia.html, accessed 12 April 2004.
769 Email to R. Sathre and I. Grdzelishvili, from David McMahon, HALO Trust-Abkhazia, 27 July 2004.
770 Landmine Monitor 2003, http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/abkhazia.html, accessed 26 March 2004.
771 Email to R. Sathre, from Zbigniew Fec, OSCE-Georgia, 25 June 2004.
772 “OSCE states will fund long-term scheme to destroy surplus weapons and explosives in Georgia”, OSCE Press Release, 30 January 2003.
http://www.osce.org/news/show_news.php?id=3024, accessed 25 July 2004.
773 Interview with Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, Tbilisi, 20 July 2004.
774 http://www.newsgeorgia.ge/news.html?nws_id=287509, accessed 23 August 2004. (in Georgian).
775 Landmine Monitor 2003, www.icbl.org/lm/2003/georgia.html, accessed 26 March 2004.
Greece
Most MOTAPM were placed along the Greek-Turkish border
after 1974, when Greece nearly went to war over Turkey’s
invasion of Cyprus following an Athens-backed coup on the
island. Clearance of anti-personnel mines from the Evros
minefields started in September 2003, immediately after
ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty. Greece intends to
maintain defensive minefields on the border with Turkey,
erw and motapm – global survey 2003–2004