Vilnius launched procedure to withdraw from Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines
Lithuania is in the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines and is going to increase production of explosives in the near future, TASS reports
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said in an interview with the Postimees newspaper, “We are currently in the process of denouncing the convention.” According to him, the Lithuanian military has not yet started to mine the border with Russia and Belarus. “At the moment we are not laying mines. But we are taking other measures to protect our borders,” he said.
The Head of the Lithuanian Cabinet of Ministers expressed the opinion that Lithuania needs to buy more remote-controlled ‘smart mines’, adding that several explosives production facilities are currently under construction in the country. “We have already signed several contracts with local companies involved in the production of, e.g., anti-tank mines,” Mr. Paluckas noted.
