The acceleration of Russia's military and security pressure on the eastern flank of Europe has made two new victims in recent weeks: the 2008 OSLO Convention banishing under-municipal weapons (bombs containing other small explosives) and that of Ottawa from 1997, prohibiting anti-personnel mines.
These two treaties so far limited certain risks of collateral damage to civilians, these bombs and mines that can remain active for a very long time on the ground after being launched or installed. But Lithuania has announced that it has disengaged from the under-municipal arms Treaty on March 6, followed by Poland and the Baltic countries, which announced, on March 18, to give up banning anti-personnel weapons.
The intentions of Lithuania vis-à-vis the Oslo Convention, ratified by 112 countries, were known. But the disengagement process was extremely fast. After an almost unanimous vote of the Lithuanian Parliament in July 2024, the decree taken in the process was sent to the secretariat of the Convention in September. And after a compulsory period of six months, this withdrawal became effective in early March. “It is the first time in the world that a state withdraws from this treaty. This creates a precedent that may have snowball effects »warns Laurent Gisel, head of weapons unit and the conduct of hostilities of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Geneva.
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Source: Lemonde