Comunicado de la Presidenta    | Communiqué de la Présidente   

  إعلان رئيس المؤتمر   | Statement

Find here the statements presented by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania during the universalization segment of the Intersessional Meeting.

Statement by the 22MSP President, Ms ICHIKAWA Tomiko, Permanent Representative of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament.

Geneva- It is with deep regret that I am informed of the notices of withdrawal from the Convention by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania respectively.

The withdrawal will take effect six months after the receipt of the instruments by the Depositary. It is the first time that States Parties have decided to withdraw from this Convention, which is aimed at putting an end to the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines.

I am also aware that national processes towards withdrawal are underway in Finland and Poland.

While I am fully aware of the security concerns of those States, prompted by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the wide-spread use of mines by Russia in the conflict, their withdrawal would represent a marked setback in our efforts to universalize the Convention prohibiting anti-personnel mines.

Faced with this situation, we need to redouble our efforts to uphold the Convention and to extend the reach of its norms.

As the President of the Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, I will continue to do my utmost to advance the universalization of the Convention.

Editorial note: The Convention was adopted in Oslo and signed in Ottawa in 1997, and entered into force twenty-six years ago, on 1 March 1999. It is the prime humanitarian and disarmament treaty aimed at ending the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines by prohibiting their use, stockpiling, production, and transfer, ensuring their destruction, and assisting victims. Together, the States Parties have destroyed over 53 million anti-personnel mines. Implementation of the treaty has contributed to peace and development by making billions of square meters of land safe again for human activity and providing support to those that have fallen victim to the weapon.