On March 6, 2025, Lithuania’s withdrawal from the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) officially took effect.
Lithuania’s withdrawal from CCM-Key Points:
- Lithuania, a NATO member, decided to leave the CCM to strengthen its defences amid concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fearing potential aggression if Moscow succeeds.
- Following the submission of exit documents to the United Nations, the decision became effective after a six-month waiting period.
- Lithuania is the first country to leave the CCM and the first EU member to exit a multilateral arms regulation agreement.
- HI, a non-governmental group and founding member of the coalition against cluster munitions, has urged Lithuania to reverse its decision, emphasizing the humanitarian risks of cluster munitions, which scatter dangerous bomblets over wide areas when deployed.
About Convention on Cluster Munitions
- Cluster munitions can be dropped from aircraft or fired from artillery, exploding mid-air and scattering bomblets over a wide area.
- The Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin, prohibits all use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions and came into force on 1 August 2010.
- As of December 2023, 124 states are committed to the convention, with 112 ratifications and 12 signatures pending ratification.
- Countries that ratify the convention are obliged never under any circumstances to use cluster munitions; develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions.
- The treaty was opposed by a number of countries that produce or stockpile significant quantities of cluster munitions, including China, Russia, the United States, India, Israel, Pakistan and Brazil.
(Source: UN)
