Germany Steps Up Efforts on Balkan Firearms Control

A joint initiative by Germany and France to address illicit firearms trafficking has moved the issue of controlling the illegal trade in small arms from the Western Balkans up the political agenda, the German Federal Foreign Office told BIRN.

"The relevance of the small arms problem in the Western Balkans for the EU's security became clear at the latest with the Paris attacks in 2015. The perpetrators used previously deactivated firearms from the Western Balkan region," the Federal Foreign Office said in a written response.

It said that the Federal Foreign Office has decided to "step up its engagement and increase its contributions to the various trust funds - UNDP, NATO, OSCE" involved in trying to tackle the illegal arms trade.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass announced on December 11 that more money will be made available to combat illegal trading in weapons, with the focus on the Western Balkans.

Maas and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian hosted a conference on the issue in Paris on December 11, attended by ministers from Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania and Montenegro.

The conference was told that hundreds of thousands of weapons from the Balkans have been in circulation in Europe since the wars in the region, and that criminals and terrorists throughout Europe use them to kill, according to a press release published on the German Federal Foreign Office website.

"Our objective is not only greater stability in the Balkans. This is also a matter of Germany's security," said Maas.

He added that the German government will therefore be significantly raising its contributions and providing more than seven million euros in future to fund projects as part of the Franco‑German...