Mines Action Canada is deeply disappointed that the Seimas, Lithuania’s Parliament, has passed a bill withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines. This is the second humanitarian treaty that Lithuania has abandoned in the past nine months, with their departure from the Convention on Cluster Munitions earlier this year being widely condemned. 

Reports indicate that Lithuania has taken this action in order to be seen as “doing something” in response to legitimate security concerns following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Abandoning international humanitarian law will not improve the security of Lithuania or its citizens. Anti-personnel landmines do not deter or slow invasions; they kill civilians. The security concerns of the 2020s cannot not be solved by the weapons of the 1990s. 

“Lithuania has legitimate and serious security concerns but landmines were banned in the 1990s because their humanitarian impact far outweighed any military utility. The vast majority of NATO are committed to the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines so by leaving the treaty Lithuania is aligning itself not with allies but with outlier states like Russia, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. Mines Action Canada urges Lithuania to stay in the Ottawa Treaty.” Said Executive Director, Erin Hunt.

For comment from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines click here.