The country is free of landmines. After nearly thirty years of systematic clearance, the country has eliminated all known minefields, fulfilling its obligations under the Ottawa Convention. During the War of Independence in the 1990s, around 1.5 million mines were laid across the countryside. At one point, one in five residents lived under the threat of hidden explosives.
Clearance teams worked with metal detectors, heavy machinery and detection dogs. In total, 107,000 mines and roughly 470,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance were found and removed. The cost is estimated at 1.2 billion euros. 208 people lost their lives in the process, including 41 de-miners.
Interior Minister Davor Božinović called the achievement not merely a technical success but the fulfilment of a moral obligation to the victims and their families. For affected communities, the end of mine clearance means safer paths, usable farmland and better prospects for tourism and agriculture.
Croatia has already donated dozens of clearance robots to Ukraine to help the country deal with its own minefields more quickly.