Croatia declared free of landmines after 31 years

Ongoing danger and human cost of demining

• Commenters note high casualty rates among deminers and describe the work as extremely slow, meticulous, and dangerous.
• Even in organized clearance operations with maps, people still die; in some WW2 clearances, POWs were used because of the risk.

Technologies and methods for mine detection

• Tools mentioned include drones (with metal detectors or thermal cameras), ground robots, and trained animals (notably rats and dogs).
• Thermal imaging can work for shallow or exposed mines but is limited once soil shifts or buries them deeply.
• Some participants suggest AI and UAV-based radar, but others imply that in practice it remains difficult to achieve reliable, large-scale, low-cost detection.

Persistence of unexploded ordnance worldwide

• Multiple examples: Croatia/Bosnia, Laos, Vietnam, France’s WWI “red zones,” Germany, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and the Korean DMZ.
• Several people emphasize that ordnance is still being found over 80–100 years after wars, undercutting the idea of any country ever being truly “mine free.”

Skepticism about “mine-free” Croatia

• Many are happy about the announcement but see it as “all known minefields cleared” rather than literal 100% removal.
• Croatians and neighbors report areas still treated as suspicious, especially forests and rural plots where work may be refused without extra clearance.
• Consensus: risk is now extremely low for normal activities, but not zero, especially off marked paths.

Ethical and strategic debate about landmines

• Strong moral condemnation: planting devices that maim civilians decades later is called “vile” and “evil.”
• Others argue that for small or threatened states facing powerful aggressors, mines are a critical, cheap defensive tool.
• This drives debate over the Ottawa Treaty: some see withdrawals (e.g., by states bordering Russia/Belarus) as disgraceful; others see them as pragmatic self-defense or as making intentions more honest.

Modern mine design and self-destruct features

• Modern mines in some militaries incorporate self-destruct (e.g., within hours to 30 days) and self-deactivation mechanisms.
• Trade-offs: more complex, far more expensive, and never 100% reliable; even a tiny failure rate leaves unacceptable residual risk.
• Poorer or desperate states often favor cheap, simple, persistent mines despite long-term civilian harm.