EU state withdraws from cluster munitions treaty

Lithuania officially withdrew from an international treaty that bans the controversial cluster munitions on Thursday. 

The Baltic state’s parliament – the Seimas – overwhelmingly voted to leave the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munition (CCM) last July. “The need to use all possibilities to strengthen deterrence and defense 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 Defense Minister Renius Pleskys said at the time.

Cluster munitions detonate in mid-air, releasing many small bomblets over a wide area. Humanitarian organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, are campaigning against the ordinances due to their indiscriminate nature and because many bomblets fail to detonate on impact, posing threats to civilians even after the conflict is over. 

Of NATO countries, the US, Poland, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland are not members of the CCM. Other states that have not signed the convention include Russia, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, and Brazil. 

The Seimas described cluster munitions on its website as “a very effective defensive tool because they can be used to defend a large area and increase the effectiveness of defense against targets that occupy large areas.”

According to the national broadcaster LRT, the Lithuanian authorities are also considering withdrawing from the 1997 Ottawa Treaty that bans anti-personnel mines.