Slovakia ratifies accession to cluster munitions convention

Slovak President Andrej Kiska on Thursday ratified Slovakia's accession to the International Convention on Cluster Munitions, according to the president office.

"By accession to the convention, Slovakia will bear not only the legal but also the humane and moral commitment to moderate the tragic and inhumane consequences of wars and armed conflicts, particularly for the innocent civilian population," a spokesperson said.

The Slovak Parliament adopted the accession to the convention on June 26, with 128 MPs supporting the move.

As of Jan. 1, 2016, Slovakia is set to adopt as mandatory individual articles of the convention, including a ban on the use of cluster munitions, as well as their development, production, storage or transformation into other forms of weapon.

To an appropriate extent this will apply to small-caliber air bombs, which are designed to disperse or be released from a pad attached to an aircraft. The convention does not apply to mines.

Slovakia's armed forces possess a total of 764 cluster bombs and missiles, which include sub-munitions. The missiles will be destroyed along with their launch mechanisms. The convention came into force on Aug. 1, 2010. Endit