Lithuania has argued that the move will strengthen its defenses

Lithuania officially withdrew from an international treaty that bans cluster munitions on Thursday. 

The Baltic state’s parliament (the Seimas) voted overwhelmingly to leave the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) last July.

“The need to use all possibilities to strengthen deterrence and defense is the driving force behind the proposal to denounce the convention. Since Lithuania became a party to the convention, the security situation has deteriorated substantially, and threats to Lithuania’s security have changed,” Deputy Defense Minister Renius Pleskys said at the time.

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Cluster munitions detonate in mid-air, releasing many small bomblets over a wide area. Humanitarian organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, have campaigned against the ordinances due to their indiscriminate nature and because many bomblets fail to detonate on impact, posing threats to civilians after the conflict is over. 

Of the NATO countries, the US, Poland, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland are not members of the CCM. Other states that have not signed the convention include Russia, Ukraine, China, India, Pakistan, and Brazil. 

The Seimas described cluster munitions on its website as “a very effective defensive tool because they can be used to defend a large area and increase the effectiveness of defense against targets that occupy large areas.”

According to national broadcaster LRT, the Lithuanian authorities are also considering withdrawing from the 1997 Ottawa Treaty which bans anti-personnel mines.