Lithuania will withdraw from the Convention banning cluster munitions, the Seimas decided on Thursday.
In total, 103 MPs voted in favour of denouncing the Convention on Cluster Munitions, one was against, and three abstained.
Once President Gitanas Nausėda signs the law, Lithuania will notify the UN secretary-general, the convention’s depository, of its withdrawal through diplomatic channels.
Lithuania will withdraw from the convention within six months of the notification, Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas’ spokesperson Emilė Balodytė told BNS.
She said that Lithuania will also formally notify the UN Security Council of its withdrawal, providing an explanation for its decision.
The country’s authorities argue that the 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.
“It would be very wrong for a country, when preparing for its defence, to immediately say what capacity it would not use for its defence. Now, we can neither buy cluster munitions, nor can we train, nor can we even allow the transfer to allies who have not ratified this convention,” Defence Minister Kasčiūnas told the Seimas on Thursday.
“I can assure you that nowadays, this capability is being used much more responsibly. There are much more modern technologies. It is much more efficient. They are much safer,” he added.
Lithuania’s plans to withdraw from the Convention on Cluster Munitions have been criticised by the Cluster Munition Coalition, and concerns have also been raised by Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organisation, and the Mines Advisory Group, a UK-based NGO that disposes of mines, cluster munitions, and UXO.
Of the NATO member states that share a border with Russia, only Lithuania and Norway are currently parties to the convention.
By withdrawing from this agreement, Lithuania intends to acquire cluster munitions together with its allies.
Kasčiūnas told BNS that he is already planning visits to countries that produce cluster munitions to discuss potential purchases.
“There are not many of them, but I am preparing for visits,” he said, adding that three countries produce such capabilities, although he did not name them.
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 caused by 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 weapons to Ukraine, which is fighting back against Russia’s aggression.
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