Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Neilas Tankevičius, and Ambassador Fernando Arias, OPCW Director-General
THE HAGUE, Netherlands—21 December 2023— The Government of the Republic of Lithuania has voluntarily contributed €10,000 to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The contribution will be used towards the full elimination of the Syrian Chemical Weapons Programme as well as establishing facts surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, relevant decisions of the policy-making organs of the OPCW, and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 19 December 2023 in a signing ceremony held between the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Lithuania to the OPCW, H.E. Mr Neilas Tankevičius, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, at the Organisation’s Headquarters in The Hague.
“Lithuania commends the important work of the OPCW and will continue supporting key activities of the Organisation. With this voluntary contribution, we are pleased to assist the OPCW’s pivotal work in the Syrian Arab Republic,” said Ambassador Tankevičius.
“We will continue to support the Organisation through active engagement in the Executive Council from 2024 to 2026,” he added.
The Director-General stated: “I express my sincere appreciation to Lithuania for its financial and political support to the OPCW’s mission to permanently eradicate chemical weapons. This contribution will help the OPCW to continue its critical work in Syria to ensure that the norms and principles of the Chemical Weapons Convention are upheld.”
Background
Lithuania has been an active member of the OPCW since 1998.
To date, Lithuania has contributed a total of €42,328.42 to the following OPCW trust funds: the Trust Fund for Syria Missions, the Trust Fund for a Centre for Chemistry and Technology, the Voluntary Fund for Assistance.
The Declaration Assessment Team was established in 2014 to engage the relevant Syrian authorities to resolve the identified gaps, inconsistencies, and discrepancies in the Syrian declaration. The Fact-Finding Mission was set up in the same year in response to persistent allegations of chemical weapon attacks in Syria, with the task to establish facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals for hostile purposes. The Investigation and Identification Team began its work in 2019 and is responsible for identifying the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
On 7 July 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 — totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents — have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW’s strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.