VZCZCXRO0174
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHTI #0777/01 3420806
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080806Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8634
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000777 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR PM/WRA:HMCCLOY and EUR/SCE:JISMAIL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV MASS PREL AL
SUBJECT: ALBANIA DECLARED MINE FREE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE 
 
TIRANA 00000777  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Albania took advantage of the Cartagena Summit on a Mine Free 
World to declare completion - one year ahead of schedule - of a 
nine-year project to clear all landmines from its territory to meet 
its obligations under Article 5 of the Ottawa Convention banning 
landmines.  Since Albania met is requirements under Article 4 in 
2004, Albania is now one of only two countries that have declared 
themselves mine-free since the formation of the Convention.  As a 
result of the 1999 Kosovo war, around 15 square km along the 
Albania-Kosovo border were identified as contaminated by landmines. 
In February 2000, the Government of Albania signed the Ottawa 
convention and began a project with substantial U.S. funding to 
clear the border area by August 2010.  In October of this year, the 
GOA cleared the last parcel of land and returned it to the local 
population.  During the 9-year project, 12,452 landmines were 
discovered and subsequently destroyed.  The Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs' official statement, presented December 1 at the Cartagena 
Summit, is attached below. 
 
¶2. TextBQQAnti-Personestructiry; take the Qecessary legislative acts to implement the 
Convetion; provide the due care and assistance to the mine 
survivors, etc. 
 
Since the ratification of the Convention, Albania has shown a great 
commitmet to comply with the above obligations in particular with 
the clearance of all mined contaminated areas under its territory or 
jurisdiction. 
 
Albania had to deal with the mine problem since the end of the 
Kosova conflict in 1999 when a total area of about 15.25 square 
kilometers of border line in northeast Albania was initially 
identified as contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnances. 
 
The establishment of the national structures of the Albanian Mine 
Action Committee and the Albanian Mine Action Executive responsible 
for the formulation and implementation of mine action policies and 
programme, were essential in ensuring the sustainability of Mine 
Action Programme in Albania, capable to deal with the consequences 
of the mine contamination. 
 
In 2006, the Albanian Government with the technical assistance of 
UNDP and based also on the Nairobi Action Plan formulated the 
National Mine Action Plan for Completion 2007-2010, which was 
included under the UNDP Completion Initiative.  The Plan outlined in 
detail the implementation mechanisms and the capacities needed to 
fulfill the Article 5 obligations.  The main goal of the plan was to 
declare Albania free of mines by the end of 2009, ahead of its 
August 2010 Article 5 deadline. 
 
The Government of Albania is proud it could announce in this 
historical Summit the long awaited statement that after almost a 
decade of work, we have fulfilled our obligation under Article 5 of 
the Convention, by completing clearance of all known mined areas 
under our territory. 
 
Several demining organizations have worked in Albania since the 
outset of the clearance operations including: RONCO, Help Germany, 
Swiss Foundation for Demining and Dan Church Aid.  Since 2004, Dan 
Church Aid has been the only, active demining operator in the 
country.  The clearance assets of these organizations included 
manual deminers, demining machines and mine detection dogs. From 
2007 onwards DCA has operated with only manual demining teams and a 
fully nationalized programme with only one expatriate Programme 
Manager. 
 
A total of 12,452 anti-personnel mines have been found and destroyed 
in more than 16 million square meters, now released as free of mines 
and unexploded ordnance. The last mine accident recorded in the mine 
contaminated areas in Albania is in June 2005. 
 
Building the national capacities has been one of the key features 
and contributors to success of the Mine Action Programme in Albania. 
 Sustainable capacities for monitoring and coordination of Mine 
Action activities, humanitarian demining and victim assistance 
through various projects have been built at the national and local 
level with the support of various international donors.  The major 
challenge lies ahead of us now is to making an effective use of 
 
TIRANA 00000777  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
these capacities in other similar projects in Albania. 
 
It is never enough, to recognize that these remarkable achievements 
would have been impossible without the outstanding support of our 
donors and partners. 
 
We cannot conclude our statement without conveying a sincere 
thanking to our loyal donors from the beginning of the programme, 
such as: the European Union, the Governments of United States of 
America, the Federal Republic of Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, 
Denmark, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Norway, 
Austria and Turkey for their steady contribution. Words of 
appreciation also go for our invaluable partners: the International 
Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance in Slovenia, the 
UNDP, UNMAS, UNICEF, Dan Church Aid and the Swiss Foundation for 
Demining, RONCO, HELP, the Geneva International Centre for 
Humanitarian Demining, ICRC, the ALB-Aid and the Albanian Red Cross. 
 
 
Thanks to this support, we could finally return a mine free land to 
the people and also be proud of contributing to another success of 
the Convention.