Nation Completes Historic Mine Clearance After Three Decades

Croatia has completed a nationwide demining campaign, declaring itself free of landmines more than three decades after the Yugoslav wars left large parts of the country contaminated.

“This is not just a technical success — it is the fulfillment of a moral obligation to the victims of mines and their families,” said Davor Božinović, Croatia’s Interior Minister.

Since the 1991–95 conflict, Croatia cleared around 13,000 square kilometres of suspected hazardous land, removing about 410,000 explosive devices, including anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. The €1.2 billion effort restored forests, farmland, and rural communities to safe use, ending one of Europe’s longest mine-clearance operations and enabling safer development in previously restricted areas.