Lithuania withdraws from the Convention on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions

On July 18, the Seimas of Lithuania decided to withdraw from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Cluster Munitions.

This was reported by the LRT publication.

The initiator of the refusal was the Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas. He said that Lithuania ratified the agreement in a "different era": "Such conventions are important when all countries follow them. The problem is that Russia, which carries out aggression against Ukraine and has imperialist ambitions, does not follow the rules."

Agriculture Minister Hedrews Surplis said his country was "more naive than Russiaʼs other neighbors who did not sign the convention". The agreement was not signed by any neighboring country of the Russian Federation, except for Lithuania.

After the decision of the parliament, the Minister of Defense promises to offer colleagues in the region (Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Finland) to consider joint purchases of these ammunitions.

• In September 2023, the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania offered to consider the possibility of withdrawing from the Convention on the prohibition of cluster munitions. In early July, the government approved the draft resolution and asked the president to submit a proposal to the parliament. Subsequently, the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda signed the relevant decree.
• In 2008, an agreement was signed in Dublin at an international conference to ban the production, use and stockpiling of cluster munitions. Cluster munitions are not accurate and are very deadly. They have a high failure rate and scattered, unexploded shells have been a hazard for years. 123 countries joined the agreement. The USA, Russia and Ukraine refused to join.

Author: Denys Podobriy