Claiming increased security concerns from Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have declared their withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty prohibiting mines.
Together supporting the treaty's withdrawal were Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, and Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds.
The four NATO members said on March 18 that their mounting military threat from Russia called for a change from the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, which forbids anti-personnel landmines. Approved or adopted by more than 160 nations but not by Russia, the pact forbids the manufacture, storage, and use of such weapons. By breaking out from the pact, Poland and the Baltic nations will be allowed to rebuild their landmine stores.
Emphasising the changing security scene in the area since the signing of the pact, the joint statement said, "Threats to NATO nations bordering Russia and Belarus have risen. We have to strengthen our defence capacity considering the continuous hostility directed at Ukraine, therefore compromising European stability.
Emphasising their unanimous decision to leave the Ottawa Treaty, the defence ministers said, "this sends a clear message—our nations are prepared to take all necessary measures to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity."
What is the Ottawa Treaty?
Effective on March 1, 1999, the Ottawa Treaty—also known as the Mine Ban Treaty—became Officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, the pact forbids the use, manufacture, and distribution of landmines.
The pact is signed and ratified by 132 of the 164 nations who are overall participants. While twelve non-signatory states—including Russia, China, the US, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam—retain the right to manufacture landmines, signatory countries do not make them.
A Reuters story claims Finland voiced similar worries in December 2024, citing Russia's use of landmines in Ukraine as a reason for considering treaty withdrawal. The defence ministers of Poland and Baltic countries underlined that NATO's vulnerable eastern flank has to improve its defences considering the present security environment. They underlined the need of keeping military capability flexible and of allowing freedom to choose new weapon systems when needed.
