Latvian Parliament approves decision to withdraw from Convention on anti-personnel mines

The Latvian Seimas has approved in the final reading the law on the country's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use and Production of Anti-personnel Mines. This was announced on April 16 by the Delfi portal.

"66 deputies voted for withdrawal [from the convention], 14 parliamentarians voted against <...>, and two deputies, Edgars Zelderis and Juris Yakovins, abstained," the publication says.

The withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention was initiated by the Ministry of Defense and coordinated with Estonia, Lithuania and Poland, Delfi said. The bill was drafted by the Latvian Foreign Ministry, and the government supported it, but the final decision remained with the Seimas.

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On March 18, the Defense Ministers of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania recommended that these countries withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of anti-personnel mines. As the heads of departments noted, it is extremely important to provide the defense forces with flexibility and freedom of choice for the potential use of new weapons systems.

In addition, on March 7, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Warsaw was considering the possibility of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, as well as from the Dublin Convention on Cluster Munitions. In his speech, he noted that all Polish neighbors have both types of weapons, so Poland should use all available means to ensure security.