From 1996 to early 2006, the size of suspected mine-infested areas has been reduced by more than tenfold, Jungwirth said. According to the first estimates in 1996, there were 13,000 square kilometres of mine-infested areas, while in 2006 the size of potentially mine-infested areas was 1,147 square kilometres, Jungwirth said.
He said that Croatia would clear all detected mine fields in the next five years at the most, which he said also depended on available funds.
The de-mining of 300 square kilometres will cost some 450 million euros. Part of the money will be obtained from EU pre-accession funds, he said, adding that there were also suspected areas whose exact location was unknown.
By the end of 2002 Croatia destroyed all landmine stockpiles in line with the Ottawa Convention, and by the end of 2005 it met the second obligation from the Convention by precisely identifying and marking mine areas and making data on minefields available to the public.
Another obligation from the Convention, the removal of all mines from suspected areas, must be met by the end of 2009, Jungwirth said, adding that this deadline could be moved because many countries would not be able to remove all mines by that year due to the complexity of the problem.
Croatia has been constantly increasing funds for mine removal. In 2005 it set aside 291 million kuna, of which a half came from the state budget, 26 percent from other investors, and 24 percent from donations. Last year saw the highest number of donations, amounting to 70 million kuna, Jungwirth said.
The number of mine victims has been decreasing as well, from 88 in 1998 to 13 in 2005.
In February 2006 the HCR database contained data about 1,779 victims of mine-related incidents since 1991, of whom 440 were killed.
The eighth Landmine Monitor report was presented by Landmine Monitor rapporteur for Croatia Martina Belosevic. The 1,202-page document contains information on 126 countries and regions and describes their progress and problems that have to be solved.