Summary: Non-signatory Latvia said in December 2016 that it supports the convention’s objectives and is in de facto compliance with the convention’s provisions, yet it has not taken any steps toward accession. Latvia has not participated in any meetings of the convention or provided a voluntary transparency report, but responds to Cluster Munition Monitor’s annual requests for updated information. Latvia abstained from voting on a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the treaty banning cluster munitions in December 2016. Latvia states that it has never used, produced, stockpiled, or transferred cluster munitions.

Policy

The Republic of Latvia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In December 2016, Latvia elaborated its views on the convention at the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security upon abstaining from the vote on UNGA Resolution 71/45, which calls on states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[1] Latvia repeated a statement it first made in December 2015 when it abstained from the vote on a similar UNGA resolution.

Latvia committed “to act in line” with the provisions of the convention, stating that it “fully shares the concerns relating to the disastrous consequences caused by the indiscriminate use of certain cluster munitions.” With respect to cluster munitions, it said “we believe that the humanitarian point of view must be balanced with security concerns and strategic defense considerations.” Latvia said its position on the convention “could be revisited in a mid-term perspective” but it is unclear when that review will be undertaken, if at all.

The Cluster Munition Coalition met with the Latvian delegation to UNGA First Committee in October 2016, who said that the capital had instructed them not to vote in favor of the draft resolution because Latvia has not joined the convention.[2]

In May 2017, Latvia responded to a request for an update on its position on accession by stating that “the position of the Government has not changed” but it “maintains the commitment to act in line” with the convention’s provisions.[3] Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials have communicated this position to Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor in annual correspondence since 2010.[4]

Latvia participated as an observer in a couple of meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention, including the Dublin negotiations in May 2008 and the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.[5]

Latvia has not participated in any meetings of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It was invited to, but did not attend, the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2016.

Latvia voted in favor of Human Rights Council resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in March 2017.[6] It has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]

Latvia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

Latvia is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It has not proposed any CCW work on cluster munitions since efforts to create a new protocol on the weapons failed in 2011, leaving the Convention on Cluster Munitions as the sole international instrument on the weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Latvia has stated several times that it has never used, produced, stockpiled, or transferred cluster munitions, most recently in November 2015.[8]