Lithuania Officially Exits the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention

Lithuania has officially ceased to be a participant in the Ottawa Convention, following a notification to the United Nations six months ago. This was reported by LRT, Lithuania's radio and television. It is noted that today marks the deadline set for the country's withdrawal from the agreement after the announcement made to the UN Secretary-General.

The Ottawa Convention prohibits the use, accumulation, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and mandates their destruction. Lithuanian authorities had previously announced plans to begin domestic production of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines in the coming years. According to published data, approximately 800 million euros are expected to be spent on this purpose over the next decade.

In addition to Lithuania, the decisions to exit the Ottawa Convention have also been confirmed by Estonia, Latvia, and Finland. Poland's Sejm has also passed a law on the denunciation of the agreement, while the President of Finland has confirmed the country's withdrawal. Earlier, Ukrainian authorities also announced the start of the process to abandon the Convention.

The Ottawa Convention was signed on December 3, 1997, and came into force on March 1, 1999. To date, 163 states have joined it.