Bosnia and Herzegovina still has a substantial amount of unstable military ammunition, much of which has been poorly stored and maintained. The EU-funded EU-STAR project strongly supports the TROM team in Doboj in tackling this challenge.
On 12 September 2017, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, EU Special Representative and Head of the Delegation of the EU to Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with UNDP Resident Representative in BiH Sezin Sinanoglu, BiH Deputy Minister of Defence Boris Jerinić and Deputy Commander of the Support Command of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Brigadier General Gojko Knežević visited the TROM Doboj ammunition maintenance disposal site, as representatives of main stakeholders within the EU-STAR (European Union Assistance to Stockpile Management, Technical Support, and Ammunition Surplus Reduction) project. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP.
In addition, EUFOR Chief Of Staff, Brigadier General Szpisják was also present to witness the important work they conduct in support of destroying obsolete ammunition.
Bosnia and Herzegovina still has a substantial amount of unstable military ammunition. The presence of unstable ammunition in BiH could cause public safety concerns, and represents a potential risk to a safe and secure environment. It also constitutes a financial and administrative burden to the AFBiH.
On this occasion, EU Ambassador Wigemark reminded that that the EU has provided funding for 2.8 million EUR to complete the last phase of the Master Plan for Ammunition Disposal. “I am already looking forward to the reaching of the magic number of 10,000 tons of reduced ammunition stockpile,” Ambassador Wigemark said.
Deputy Defence Minister Boris Jerinić thanked the European Union, UNDP and EUFOR for their support in the reduction of surplus ammunition in BiH.
The European Union, together with EUFOR ALTHEA, continues to assist the important work on ammunition surplus reduction in support of a safe and secure environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
