A proposal to leave the convention banning cluster munitions passed the first reading in the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, on Thursday.
Ninety-nine MPs voted in favour of the motion, one voted against, and three abstained.
“The need to use all possibilities to strengthen deterrence and defence is the driving force behind the proposal to denounce the convention. Since Lithuania became a party to the convention, the security situation has deteriorated substantially and threats to Lithuania’s security have changed,” Deputy Defence Minister Renius Pleškys defended the motion in the parliament.
According to him, the fundamental change that has led to the consideration of withdrawal is Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Lithuanian government last week approved a draft resolution proposing that Lithuania withdraw from the Convention on Cluster Munitions and asked the president to submit the denunciation motion to the parliament. Gitanas Nausėda signed the respective decree on Monday.
According to the president’s office, “the accepted international legal restrictions [...] limit the defence capabilities and combat power of Lithuania and its allies operating on its territory, and reduce the effectiveness of deterrence”.
Pleškys noted that the munitions would be used for defensive operations in case of aggression against Lithuania.
A year ago, the presidential office was more sceptical about the proposal to withdraw from the convention. Back then, Frederikas Jansonas, Nausėda’s chief communications adviser, said last August that Lithuania’s withdrawal from the international agreement could hurt its reputation.
Among the NATO member states sharing a border with Russia, only Lithuania and Norway are currently parties to the convention.
The United States is not a party to the convention, nor are Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Turkey. However, most of Western and Central European countries as well as Canada are.
Lithuania joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011.
The agreement prohibits the use, production and acquisition of cluster munitions and sets out specific obligations to address the humanitarian consequences of these weapons.
A cluster munition is an air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that ejects smaller submunitions.
In mid-July 2023, the United States supplied these widely banned munitions to Ukraine, which is fighting back against Russia’s aggression.
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