OSCE Mission helps destroy confiscated weapons in Moldova

CHISINAU, 20 November 2013 – Some 3,000 confiscated weapons were destroyed in Chisinau today, with technical and financial support provided by the OSCE to the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Moldova.

Ambassador Jennifer Brush, head of OSCE Mission to Moldova, said that the destruction of confiscated and surplus small arms and light weapons decreases the risks of dissemination and trafficking in the region and contributes to the strengthening of regional stability in South-Eastern Europe.

“The destruction of these weapons makes Moldova a safer place,” she said, praising Moldova’s willingness to fulfil its international commitments regarding the destruction of small arms and light weapons. Interior Minister Dorin Recean, present during the destruction, stressed the good co-operation with the OSCE on arms control.

The weapons confiscated by the Moldovan police were damaged, unusable, have undergone unauthorized alterations or have been kept illegally. Some weapons were voluntarily given in for destruction.

Since 2009, the OSCE Mission to Moldova has worked with the Moldovan Ministry of Interior and other relevant institutions on the safe disposal of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and conventional ammunition. Within this programme, the OSCE has already helped destroy or demilitarize 78 cluster bombs, 106 aircraft bombs and 48 ground-to-air rockets.