Lithuania has not yet endorsed the Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It did, however, participate in the negotiations towards a Political Declaration where it argued that in the declaration as a whole, and especially in Section 3, there must exist a clear distinction between discriminate and indiscriminate uses of explosive weapons in populated areas, because in its view “not all explosive weapons use” harms civilians.1 Lithuania also supported the use of qualifiers throughout the text indicating that harm “can” potentially arise from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas—not that it does. Finally, Lithuania argued that the Declaration must make clear that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) applies equally to all parties in armed conflicts, including non-state armed groups, which it says pose the greatest challenge to IHL implementation.
Statements and positions
As a member of the European Union (EU), Lithuania has signed onto numerous joint statements condemning the use of explosive weapons in populated areas and the harms it causes to civilians and civilian objects, as well as calling for greater IHL compliance. This includes at several UN Security Council open debates on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 2 and at the General Debate of UN General Assembly First Committee3, as well as at the 2022 UN Security Council open debate on War in Cities where the EU expressed concern over the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including near hospitals, schools, and universities.4 The EU, with Lithuania signing on, has also repeatedly welcomed the Political Declaration on explosive weapons in populated areas – at the 2022 Dublin Conference, the 2022 and 2023 UN General Assembly First Committee (where it highlighted the work ahead for implementing the Declaration’s commitments), and at the 2023 UN Security Council open debate on the Protection of Civilians.
Lithuania also aligned with the World Humanitarian Summit Core Commitments to ‘Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity’ as an EU member state in May 2016. This included the commitment “to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.”5