site.btaParliament Passes Bill on Cluster Munitions, Anti-personnel Mines

Parliament Passes Bill on Cluster Munitions, Anti-personnel Mines

Sofia, September 3 (BTA) - Parliament on Thursday passed on first reading a bill implementing two conventions, on cluster munitions and the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. The vote was 99 in favour, two against and eight abstentions.

The bill bans all activities regarding cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines with the exception of those authorized in the two conventions and will implement controls over their disposal, transportation, import, export or transfer for the purpose of destruction.

The bill's sponsor, MP Valentin Radev of GERB, said that controls need to be improved. He specified that the Bulgarian Defence Ministry stockpiles some 900 tonnes of cluster munitions and another 500 tonnes have been imported for disposal by a private company. Also, Bulgaria has 76,000 tonnes of anti-personnel mines. Activities banned under the new law will be criminalized by changes to the Penal Code.

MP Yanko Yankov of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms said the Movement supports the bill because it is good for the national security. He supported provisions that vest the Defence Ministry with oversight powers. but added that during the considerations of the bill in the parliamentary defence committee the Defence Ministry wanted to waive these commitments.

MP Dimiter Bayraktarov of the Patriotic Front said that his party is against the bill as it produces corruption, profiteering and is harmful to the environment. It attempts to impose controls on a profitable business for disposal of imported munitions, he said.