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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Demining project in Sid municipality completed

Sid, 21 December 2009

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic today attended the completion of the demining project at Morovic near Sid.

At the celebration marking the end of a several year long campaign to remove mines from the Sid municipality Dacic thanked the states that donated the funds for the demining project.

He stressed that Serbia endorses the efforts of the international community, i.e. Ireland, Canada, Germany, Norway, Russia, the US, Spain and the EU, which are actively engaged in the humanitarian task of removing mines from the territory of Serbia.

It is estimated that there are around two million unexploded mines and other explosive devices in Serbia, Dacic recalled, stressing that this is preventing Serbian citizens from leading normal lives.

He also added it is crucial that the project is implemented thoroughly so that the territory of Serbia can be safe again.

Charge d’Affairs of the US embassy in Belgrade Jennifer Brush and Norwegian Ambassador to Belgrade Haakon Blakenborg voiced their pleasure that the Sid area along the border with Croatia has been cleared of mines that were left there after the conflicts in the 1990s and announced that their governments would help Serbia to remove the remaining explosive devices. Brush recalled that since 2003, when the demining of the Jamen, Morovic and Batrovci villages in the municipality of Sid started, 19 million square metres have been cleared up. The greatest individual donor has been the US, with over $4.2 million. She underlined that the US's engagement in Serbia and the Balkans is part of its efforts to resolve at a global level the problem of the cruel consequences which mines have on civilians. She added that the US will continue to cooperate with the Serbian government and Serbia's citizens until the region's full recovery and reconciliation. Blakenborg welcomed the completion of the demining project in the Sid municipality, in which Norway has been one of the partners. Negotiations on another demining project in Serbia are underway. Director of the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance Goran Gacnik said that owing to the cooperation of professionals from Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, over 5,000 mines and other unexploded lethal devices have been removed from the Sid area. Director of the Serbian Demining Centre Petar Mihajlovic said that in 16 Serbian municipalities, and in the Sava and Danube rivers, there are unexploded devices that have remained there since the First World War and from the 1999 NATO bombing.