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On 1 December in New York, at Lithuania’s initiative, the United Nations unanimously adopted the resolution on sea-dumped chemical munitions. This is the first resolution that Lithuania has independently submitted to the United Nations for adoption.

The adoption of the resolution is a result of a long and consistent Lithuanian diplomatic activity. Over the past few years, Lithuania has hosted a few international conferences and workshops on this topic and presented this issue in various international organizations.

During the negotiations on the adoption of the resolution at the United Nations, Lithuania managed to make certain of full support from all member states of the European Union. Along Lithuania, the co-authors of the resolution are also Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Ecuador, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iraq, Iceland, Montenegro, Moldova, Monaco, Norway, Serbia, Somalia and Ukraine.

The resolution calls on Member States and international organizations to cooperate more closely in assessing the environmental threats related to waste originating from chemical munitions dumped at sea. Member States agreed to voluntarily exchange practical knowledge about the sites where chemical munitions were dumped at sea and to increase public awareness on this issue, a well as to seek the views of Member States on issues related to the environmental effects of the waste. The resolution does not propose to discuss the lifting and destroying of chemical munitions.

At Lithuania’s initiative, the International Scientific Advisory Board on Dumped Chemical Weapons was established and started its activities in 2010. The Scientific Board has gathered together world-known representatives of environmental organizations, scientists and researchers from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the U.S.A., working in the fields of environment protection and destruction of chemical weapons.  The Scientific Board provides qualified scientific and technology information, evaluations and analytical recommendations regarding sea-dumped chemical weapons.

The issue of sea-dumped chemical munitions may be relevant to several tens of countries. After the First World War and the Second World War, chemical weapons were dumped in the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific (in the northern and southern parts) Oceans, and in the Baltic, White, North, Tasman, and the Mediterranean Seas.

After the Second World War, about 40 thousand tons of chemical munitions, which contain about 13 thousand tons of toxic materials, were dumped at the Baltic Sea. In 1994, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (the Helsinki Commission) carried out the main study of chemicals dumped in the Baltic Sea.  In 1995, the Commission published its conclusions on the Baltic Sea region and recommended continuing the research of the deep-sea chemical weapons dump sites without lifting or destroying the chemical munitions.

In 1992, the United Nations adopted the resolution that was co-initiated by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on complete withdrawal of foreign military forces of former Soviet Union from the territories of the Baltic States.