Lithuania is already discussing how many and what types of anti-personnel mines the country should buy or manufacture once it withdraws from the Ottawa Convention, Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said on Tuesday.
“I believe that we’ll have several options,” the minister told journalists at the parliament building. “Both anti-tank and antipersonnel mine production options are being considered. I’m also planning to travel to Finland tomorrow evening to discuss acquisition possibilities with manufacturers.”
The minister added that no final decision has been made on which types of mines to acquire – those that are banned by the Ottawa Convention or those that “essentially still fall within the category of mines that are not banned. We will detail the types of acquisitions that would be made and at what level they will be made.”
In a joint statement early on Tuesday, the defence ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland announced their plan to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, which was established to ban the use of antipersonnel mines.
The move will first require parliamentary approval in all four countries.
Sakaliene says that the joint announcement sends a strong and clear messages about how seriously the four countries are treating the issues of deterrence and border defence.
The minister added that she expects Lithuania’s National Defence Council to meet soon to take a final decision on withdrawing from the international agreement.
Source: BNS
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