Country & Territory Reports - Landmine Action

Hungary
Background
Hungary is contaminated by ERW and MOTAPM left over
from the 1939-45 War from both the German and the
Russian armies, as well as from former Soviet army bases
and training grounds.
Assessment of the problem
Both ERW and MOTAPM contamination have been found in
Pest, Fejer, Komaron-Eszetgom, Veszprem, Gvor, Vas,
Nagybajom, the Pilis Hills and Lake Balaton. 873
Impact
Officially, there were no military or civilian casualties from
ERW or MOTAPM during the reporting period. 874 However,
the local media reported that an amateur collector of war
relics was killed by a piece of unexploded ordnance on 1
November 2003. 875 No military or civilian casualties were
reported from ERW/MOTAPM in 2002, but there were an
unspecified number of civilian casualties in 2001. 876 In
December 2001, Hungary reported that, in the last 50
years, 300 EOD personnel had been killed by ERW. 877
Efforts to address the problem
The First Bomb-disposal and Battlefield Regiment of the
Hungarian Army is responsible for clearing and destroying
ERW and MOTAPM. According to Government Decree
142/99, this unit is exclusively authorised to carry out
clearance and destruction activities in Hungary. The
operational procedure is that civilians report ERW to police,
who verify the claim and then inform the bomb disposal
regiment. Findings are in four categories:
■ Urgent and dangerous cases (government areas,
embassies, hospitals, schools, etc.);
■ Inhabited areas (cleared within one day);
■ Non-inhabited areas (clearance within 30 days);
■ Suspected not confirmed ERW (no time limit for clearing).
The overall mine planning agency is the Joint Logistic and
Technical Support Command of the Hungarian Defence
Forces. In 2003, the Regiment received 2,721 reports of
mines and other suspicious explosive objects, resulting in
the examination of 38,145 square metres and the
discovery of 177,658 ERW, including eight active MOTAPM
(two Soviet TM-41s, four German TMi-42s, one German
TMi-43, one German TMi-35). 878
Legislation, government attitudes
hungary 81
Hungary ratified the Ottawa Convention in April 1998 and
the CCW in 1984. The CCW’s Amended Protocol II was
ratified on 26 November 1997 and the government intends
to sign and ratify Protocol V in the near future. It has
aligned itself with all EU statements regarding ERW and
MOTAPM. 879
873 Landmine Monitor 2004, p. 497.
874 Letter from Erik Hauptmann, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2 September 2004.
875 “Robbanás a XI. Kerületben (Explosion in district 11)”, Magyar Hírlap Online (daily newspaper, Internet version), 2 November 2003, cited in
Landmine Monitor 2004, p. 498.
876 Email from László Sz_cs, Arms Control and Security Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 30 May 2003; “Hungarian Army 1st EOD
Battalion, 21-22 June 2001”.
877 Report at the Second CCW Review Conference, Geneva, 11-21 December 2001, cited in Landmine Monitor 2004, p. 498.
878 Letter from First Bomb-disposal and Battleship Regiment of the Hungarian Army (HTHE), ref. 33/4/2004, 22 January 2004, reported in Landmine
Monitor 2004, p. 497; telephone interview with Sergeant-Major Róbert Sulykovszki, HTHE, 17 May 2004.
879 Letter from Erik Hauptmann, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2 September 2004.
erw and motapm – global survey 2003–2004