Croatia

Croatia is a member of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) and has participated in all CCW meetings on autonomous weapons systems. Croatia has not yet declared its position on the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

In December 2025, Croatia voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Croatia co-sponsored and voted in favour of Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

Speaking at UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Croatia said that the development of autonomous weapons and the use of artificial intelligence for military purposes ‘raises questions faster than we can offer solutions. As the new autonomous weaponry redefines modern warfare, we need to recognise the centrality of human control in the development and use of these systems. We must reduce our differences and intensify our work in order to produce an effective international instrument based on IHL.'^[1]Statement by Croatia, 79th UNGA First Committee, 24 October 2024

In December 2023, Croatia voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force.

In a statement at the 2021 CCW Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS), Croatia said that the ‘exponential technological development and use of new technologies for military purposes, can have an extremely negative effect on civilians and their political infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify discussions on the use of new technologies in the area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). We believe that the human factor is irreplaceable in terms of decision making and responsibility for the implementation of such systems.’^[2]Statement by Croatia, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 13 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-13-12-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note … Continue reading

Croatia has aligned itself with the European Union regarding the need for normative and operational framework on autonomous weapons systems. In a statement at the United Nations General Assembly First Committee in 2020, the European Union said that it ‘will support the GGE in the clarification, consideration and development of aspects of the normative and operational framework for emerging technologies in the area of LAWS.’^[3]Statement by the European Union, United Nations General Assembly First Committee, 09 October 2020, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/9Oct_EU.pdf