On Thursday, July 18, the Lithuanian Seimas voted to withdraw from the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Delfi reported on this.

103 MPs voted in favor of denouncing the international treaty, one was against, and four abstained.

Lithuania’s withdrawal from this convention removes restrictions on the acquisition, stockpiling, and use of cluster munitions in the event of war.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas, who was one of the initiators of the withdrawal from the treaty, said that this step was motivated by the changing geopolitical situation in which the country is.

“Such conventions are valid when all countries adhere to them. The problem is that the Russian Federation, which is carrying out aggression against Ukraine and has imperialistic ambitions, does not adhere to these rules,” Kasčiūnas said in the Seimas.

He also assured the parliamentarians that modern cluster munitions are much safer and the consequences of their use can be controlled.

At the same time, government officials argue that withdrawal from the convention, which Lithuania joined in 2011, does not cancel the country’s obligations under the principles of international humanitarian law.

After withdrawing from this agreement, Lithuania plans to replenish its arsenal with cluster munitions, which it will purchase together with its allies.

Cluster ammunition

Cluster munitions contain submunitions that are designed to destroy manpower and equipment. They usually explode on contact with a solid base.

However, a certain percentage of such submunitions remain unexploded and pose a danger to people. Such munitions can detonate if touched or picked up.

For this reason, cluster munitions are considered extremely dangerous for civilians, and their use is regulated by a convention signed by individual countries.