Lithuania officially withdraws from Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines

This was reported by LRT, according to Ukrinform.

It is noted that December 27 marks exactly six months since Lithuania officially notified the UN Secretary-General of its withdrawal from the convention banning anti-personnel mines.

Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence had previously stated that following the official withdrawal, the country would begin negotiations on the possible procurement or production of anti-personnel mines.

As reported by Ukrinform, Latvia’s decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention officially also took effect on December 27.

In March, the defence ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland issued a joint statement calling on their countries to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention; Finland later joined the initiative.

In May, the Lithuanian Seimas also approved the country’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention.

Most European Union member states are parties to the Ottawa Convention, while China, Russia, the United States, India, and Pakistan have not joined it.

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