“On Thursday, Latvia President Edgar Rinkevich approved the Latvia Act from the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, storage and production of uncontrollable anti -personnel mines, given the changes in the regional security situation over the last 20 years.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: “European Truth” with reference to Delfi
Details: It is reported that the situation has changed, and Russia, starting the war against Ukraine, demonstrated that it did not respect the territorial borders of sovereign states.
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“Given the dynamics of regional security situation, it is important not to limit the flexibility of their actions for Latvia and be able to use different weapons and decisions to strengthen the restraint and protect the state and its population,” the explanatory note to the law reads.
According to Latvia, unmanaged anti -personnel mines in combination with other mines and weapons systems enhance defense, which cannot be replaced by alternative solutions.
At the same time, Latvia, as before, undertakes to minimize the impact of military operations on civilian population and continue to comply with international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians during armed conflict.
Prehistory:
- The Diet of Latvia on April 16 in the final reading passed the Law on the withdrawal of Latvia from the Ottawa Convention. This Convention was adopted in Oslo on September 18, 1997, and came into force in 1999.
- More than 160 countries, including most Western powers, joined it.
- The Baltic States, Poland and Finland have announced their intention to leave the Ottawa Convention on the ban on anti -personnel mines because of Russian threat.
- In March, Latvia’s Defense Minister Inar Murniets stated that the country’s Defense Ministry was considering the deployment on the border with Russia and Belarus anti -tank mines and other additional obstacles to strengthen the safety of the Eastern State Border.