1. Latvia 2. Lithuania 3. Slovakia 4.
Slovenia
5. Croatia 6. Bosnia & Herzogovina
7. Serbia/Montenegro 8. Moldova 9. Macedonia
10. Armenia 11. Czech Republic
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Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is home to significant arms production,
especially in the north of the region. Russia is the fourth largest
arms exporter in the world, and the Czech Republic, Poland and
Romania are classified as ‘medium-sized’ exporters
by the Small Arms Survey. However, export data is not available
for some nations in the region, and there may be underreporting.
But perhaps the most pressing arms issue in CEE is the large number
of weapons remaining from the Cold War military build-up, which
have found markets both within the region and elsewhere, including
Western Europe. |
Together, the Balkan nations (Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro)
contain an estimated 8
million small arms among a population of 24 million. Many of
these weapons originated from the former Soviet Union, China,
Chile, Iran and Singapore. Collection programs have begun to
reduce this stockpile, but the final disposition of confiscated
weapons is often unknown, as many have not been destroyed.
The difficult transition to free markets in the Baltic and Central
European states has led those countries to sell many of their existing
weapons to offset economic growing pains, and to obtain new weapons
that meet NATO requirements. This is a particular problem in Belarus,
Bulgaria, Russia and the Ukraine.
There are several specific arms control regimes to which CEE nations
must adhere:
- Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, 1990. Restricts five categories
of military equipment and provides provisions for on-site inspections
of stockpiles
- Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Criteria
on Conventional Arms Transfers, 1993. Restricts arms exports
to countries that have a poor human rights record and takes into account
social, economic and political circumstances both in the importing
country and the region as a whole.
- OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, 2000. Intended to
enhance cooperation between signatories to tackle illegal arms
trafficking.
- U Code of Conduct, 1998 (and supplementary Joint Action, 1998).
Proposal to limit the illegal spread of small arms and to reduce
excess levels of small arms in member countries.
All CEE nations are members of the OSCE, while the EU Associate
nations include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania),
all of which are aligned with the EU Code of Conduct and Joint
Action.
In addition, the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe adopted
a Regional Implementation Plan on Combating the Proliferations
of SALW in November 2001. The South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse
for the Control of Small Arms, located in Belgrade, is the agency
charged with helping countries to put the plan into practice.
Several arms embargos are in place. Serbia and Montenegro is
under a UN embargo, Bosnia and Herzegovina is under an EU embargo,
and
Azerbaijan is under an OSCE embargo.
Organisations
South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of SALW (SEESAC)
Regional Arms Control Verification & Implementation
Assistance Centre (RACVIAC)
Centre for Peace in the Balkans
Bonn International Centre for Conversion (BICC)
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe
Organisation for Security & Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE)
British and American Security Information Council (BASIC)
South-East European Cooperative Initiative (SECI)
Treaties
Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty
OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons available in English,
Français and
Español
Stability
Pact for South Eastern Europe Regional Implementation Plan on
Combating the Proliferations of Small arms & Light
Weapons
Other links
Small Arms Survey: Europe and Central Asia
Small Arms Control
in Central and Eastern Europe, International Alert June
2003
The
role of SE Europe in arming Iraq, from the Guardian newspaper
(UK) (2002)
Report on
corruption in South Eastern Europe (2001) from the
Southeast Europe Legal Development Initiative
1997 UN report on victims of crime in the Balkans
Analysis
of conflict in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine from Carleton University (PDF)
Report
on US and EU efforts to stabilise the Balkans (2000) from
Johns Hopkins University (PDF)
Examination
of EU policy on small arms transfers from University
of Exeter
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) page
on the OSCE with information on activities in Nagorno-Karabakh
Several organisations maintain webpages which have included news
on SALW in the region:
iSPEC is an out-of-date description of the various forces
operating in the former Yugoslavia
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