Montenegro
Montenegro still has a large amount of surplus ammunition needing to be demilitarised following the split from Serbia in 2006. The country was left with several thousand tonnes of ammunition in military warehouses.1 Actors like the OSCE, UNDP, the Bundeswehr Verification Centre, SEESAC, NATO, and ITF have been on the ground since 2017 to help with the through-life management of ammunition.2 Their efforts have included disposal to reduce national stockpiles of ammunition, improving ammunition storage facilities, providing training for national personnel, and assessing the legal framework in Montenegro as well as its harmonisation with international standards on the safe storage of ammunition. Since then, the safety and security of stockpiles has also been addressed under the Western Balkan Roadmap Initiative funded by the European Union.
1 Tomovic, Dusica. “NATO Helps Montenegro Dispose of Yugoslav Weapons.” Balkan Insight, January 20, 2016. https://balkaninsight.com/2016/01/20/montenegro-struggles-to-get-rid-of-jna-weapons-01-19-2016-1/.
2See AMAP Dataset.
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Further information
Accidental explosions
Since the beginning of data collection in 1979 by the Small Arms Survey, only two accidental explosions were reported in Montenegro.
Table. 1 Accidental explosions in Montenegro (1979-2021)
| Year | Location | Owner/Manager | Deaths | Injuries |
| 2010 | Niksic | Non-state (company) | 0 | 3 |
| 2006 | Vir | Non-state (company) | 0 | 50 |
Source: Small Arms Survey. n.d. Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS). Database.
Cases of diversion
Only one case of diversion has been reported since 2015 in Montenegro.
Table 2: Cases of diversion of arms, ammunition, and explosives in Montenegro since 2015
| Year | Location | Description |
| 2015 | Pogdorica | 20 sniper rifles and "a considerable amount of ammunition" were stolen from a police warehouse located in the former Center of Security Podgorica building. |
Source: “20 Sniper Rifles Stolen from Montenegrin Police.” B92, July 3, 2015. https://www.b92.net/eng/news/region.php?yyyy=2015&mm=07&dd=03&nav_id=94644.
Disposal
To decrease the above-mentioned risks of accidental explosions and diversion, Montenegro has continuously disposed of its ammunition since 2006.
Table 3. Disposal of tonnes of ammunition in Montenegro (2006-2021)
| Year | Tonnes of Ammunition |
| 2006 | 272 |
| 2007 | 227 |
| 2008 | 227 |
| 2009 | 272 |
| 2010 | 390 |
| 2011 | 367 |
| 2014 | 40 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2018 | 116 |
| 2019 | 341 |
| 2020 | 112 |
| 2021 | 58.6 |
Sources: UNDP. “Montenegro Demilitarisation – MONDEM Programme.” UNDP. Accessed May 10, 2022. www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/projects/MONDEM.html. See also “Disposal of over 40 Tonnes of SALW Ammunition Initiated in Montenegro.” SEESAC, October 22, 2014.
https://www.seesac.org/News_1/Disposal-of-Over-40-Tonnes-of-SALW-Ammunition-Initiated-in-Montenegro/. See also SEESAC. “Contribution by Regional and International Organizations.” Report published in 2021. See also “Military Waste Destruction, Nikšić, Montenegro.” Environmental Justice Atlas, April 25, 2016. https://ejatlas.org/conflict/military-waste-destruction-niksic-montenegro. US Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. “To Walk the Earth in Safety.” Report published in 2022. https://www.state.gov/reports/to-walk-the-earth-in-safety-2022/. See also Gobinet, Pierre. “Significant Surpluses: Weapons and Ammunition Stockpiles in South-east Europe.” Report published in December 2011. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/142869/SAS-SR13-Significant-Surpluses.pdf. See also NATO. “Factsheet on Montenegro.” Published in June 2019. https://salw.hq.nato.int/Content/factsheets/20190626_Factsheet%20Montenegro_en.pdf. See also Gobinet, Pierre. “Capabilities and Capacities: A Survey of South-east Europe’s Demilitarization Infrastructure.” Report published in April 2012. https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/sites/default/files/resources/SAS-SR15-South-East-Europe-Demilitarization.pdf. See also PR Bureau. “US Assists Montenegro Destroy Excess Weapons and Ammunition.” Government of Montenegro, October 31, 2011. https://www.gov.me/en/article/109503--us-assists-montenegro-destroy-excess-weapons-and-ammunition.Needs
To further enhance safe and secure ammunition management, the following needs have been identified for Montenegro:
- Development or refinement of standards and procedures on stockpile management
- Capacity development for the destruction of surplus stockpiles
- Technical expert services for destroying surplus of ammunition by authorized subjects
Source: PoA Report 2020, Montenegro. Please note that PoA reports focus on SALW and not specifically on ammunition. https://unoda-poa.s3.amazonaws.com/reports/MNE-English-963-SUBMITTED.pdf See also AMAT Needs Analysis Dataset (2022), UNIDIR Country Insights are publicly available at the following link: https://unidir.org/publications?field_program_type_target_id=3&title=&field_keywords_target_id&field_language_value=All&field_publisher_value=&field_audience_target_id=All&field_topics_target_id=All&field_series_target_id=All&field_publication_date_value=All&page=1.)
