The ceremony was attended by representatives of the local authorities and the Croatian Mine Action Centre (HCR), US Ambassador Robert A. Bradtke, Austrian Ambassador Helga Konrad and the head of the European Commission Delegation, Vincent Degert.
Thanking the US and Austrian governments and the European Commission for their support, HCR Director Otto Jungwirth said that EUR 1.4 million had been invested in the removal of land mines in the Ilok area.
The project was also financed with money from the Croatian state budget and funds donated by the US non-governmental organisation "Roots of Peace," Jungwirth said.
Jungwirth said that in Croatia about 1,000 square kilometres of land was still strewn with mines left over from the 1991-1995 war. Those areas are located in 12 counties and some 800,000 people live there, he added.
Jungwirth said that 1,888 people had been involved in mine-related incidents since the end of the war, of whom 470 had been killed. He said that about 300 million kuna (EUR 40 million) would be invested in mine clearance projects this year, noting that 55 per cent of the money was coming from the state budget and the rest from donors and investors.
Bradtke said that the United States, aware of the danger land mines pose to people and the economy, would continue to support mine removal projects in Croatia. He said that the US had so far donated USD 80 million for this purpose and that it was planning to donate another USD 2 million this year.
Konrad spoke of historical ties between Austria and Croatia, expressing hope that the two countries would also be partners within the European Union.
The European Commission has invested more than EUR 10 million in mine removal operations in Croatia, and if we take into account EU members individually, more than EUR 22 million, Degert said.
Degert said that the European Commission would continue to support mine removal projects in Croatia, particularly those leading to economic development.