Lithuanian Prime Minister draws attention to Baltic Sea-dumped chemical weapons
On Friday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius took part in the Baltic Sea Action Summit focusing on Baltic Sea environmental issues, held in St. Petersburg (Russia). According to the Lithuanian governmental portal, the Prime Minister pointed out the need to continue pursuing the issues of the Baltic Sea-dumped chemical weapons, biodiversity conservation and reduction of the pollution.
“It is essential that we apply ecosystem-based approach in the marine environmental management, prevent the marine environment from being affected by eutrophication, seek prevention of concentrations of hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea, maintain proper level of conservation of the biodiversity in the Baltic Sea, and ensure that shipping and other economic activities in the Baltic Sea are carried out in an environmentally friendly way” – said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister informed the conference participants that Lithuania had finished the human activity impact assessment as regards the sea and its environment and that the country is committed to improve the ecological status of the Baltic Sea.
“We, like other countries in the world, face the issue of chemical munitions dumped at sea. It is essential to carry on research activities of the chemical munitions dumped at the Baltic Sea. In 2010, under Lithuania’s initiative, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on cooperative measures to assess and increase awareness of environmental effects related to waste originating from chemical munitions dumped at sea. The Helsinki Commission has a noteworthy contribution here. We believe that it will continue its obligations in this respect by further supporting technical research”, said the Prime Minister.
According to the Head of the Government, the issues of the ecological status of the Baltic Sea and its influence on the regional development will be discussed in the fourth annual conference of the European Union (EU) Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, to be held this November in Vilnius, during Lithuania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Conference participants welcomed Saint Petersburg’s initiative that promotes joint efforts between science and business communities and non-governmental organisations seeking to solve the issues of the ecological status of the Baltic Sea.
