Lithuania’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasized that it was especially important for Lithuania to solve the issue of clearing the Baltic Sea from the remaining dumped chemical weapons.

On 20 July in the Hague during a meeting with Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Rogelio Pfirter, Lithuania’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas emphasized that it was especially important for Lithuania to solve the issue of clearing the Baltic Sea from the remaining dumped chemical weapons and reminded about our country’s efforts to  promote voluntary cooperation among states and researchers in search of possibilities to solve this issue.

“We would like to highlight that chemical weapons dumped at sea pose a threat to entire international community. Therefore, this issue has to be permanently raised in international organisations and frameworks,” said Minister V.Ušackas.

Head of Lithuania’s diplomacy also expressed Lithuania’s support to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in its efforts to achieve that countries which possess reserves of chemical weapons would immediately destroy the remaining weapons of mass destruction.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was established in 1997, after the Chemical Weapons Convention came into force. Currently the Organisation has 185 members.

Lithuania ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention and joined the Organisation in 1998. Now Lithuania aims at chairing the annual Conference of the States Parties in December 2009.