Over 2,000 pieces of small arms and light weapon were destroyed on Saturday in the northern city Banja Luka, as a result of efforts to reduce the risks of weapon abuse in the country.
The whole operation was organised by the Coordination body to control small arms and light weapons, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC).
Ermin Pesto, the chief coordinator, told the reporters that the destroyed arms and weapon were mostly seized by the police agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the citizens were handing them over voluntarily.
“Over the last four years we destroyed the total of some 18,000 pieces of weapon and their parts,” he said, adding that this is the result of the efforts to reduce the risk of the weapon abuse.
Pesto dismissed the allegations of the presence of some 750,000 illegal pieces of the weapon in Bosnia and Herzegovina, noting that the problem of illegal weapon is present and that competent agencies are taking measures on combatting this issue.
“Many activities of combatting the illegal weapon trade are being conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina recently, and one of those activities is today's destroying of weapon,” he added
Tomislav Curic, representing the Office of the European Union's Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia, said that this activity was very important in the context of the safety and the country's accession to the EU.
“The weapon control and combat any type of the crime in regard with weapon is a top priority on the EU's security agenda and that was very clearly said in the recently adopted EU's strategy concerning that area,” said Curic, recalling that this document also points out the problem of illegal weapon in the Western Balkans.
UNDP's Slobodan Tadic stressed that the agency has been for years supporting such activities and working together with the EU on implementation of the directive that refer to the weapon control in the Western Balkans.
