Division Description

Building upon the success of the previous phase, which oversaw the destruction of a total of 78,366 weapons (45,275 in Serbia and 33,091 in Croatia), and in order to further reduce the surplus SALW held by state institutions and civilians and thus lower the risk of diversion or illicit trade in these weapons, the project will dispose of up to 165,000 SALW by conducting several destruction activities in:

• Albania (up to 120,000 pieces)

• Bosnia and Herzegovina (up to 4,500 pieces)

• Kosovo^f1 (up to 2,500 pieces)

• FYROM (up to 1,500 pieces)

• the Republic of Moldova (up to 2,500 pieces)

• Montenegro (up to 4,000 pieces)

• Serbia (up to 30,000 pieces)

In Albania, the gains achieved in the disposal of surplus ammunition held by the Ministry of Defence need to be matched by the destruction of SALW, particularly considering the size of the surplus stockpile and the challenge of securing it. In Serbia, the gains achieved under Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP need to be reinforced with further disposal of surplus and confiscated weapons, while it is essential to initiate similar actions in other countries in order to significantly reduce the risk of the spread and illicit trafficking of surplus weapons. In addition, the project will conduct the destruction of surplus and confiscated explosives and SALW ammunition held by the Ministries of Interior as well as the Ministries of Defence.