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The defense ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
said in a joint statement that they “unanimously recommend
withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention" — the international
antipersonnel mine ban convention that went into effect in 1999.
They argue that the security situation along NATO's eastern
flank has "fundamentally deteriorated” since they signed on to
the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, and that “military
threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have
significantly increased.”
“With this decision, we are sending a clear message: Our
countries are prepared and can use every necessary measure to
defend our territory and freedom," they wrote.
Despite the intention to leave the treaty, they said they would
remain committed to humanitarian law, including the protection
of civilians during armed conflict.
The Ottawa Convention was signed in 1997 and went into force in
1999. Nearly three dozen countries have not acceded to it,
including some key current and past producers and users of land
mines such as the United States, China, India, Pakistan, South
Korea and Russia.
In a report released last year by Landmine Monitor, the
international watchdog said land mines were still actively being
used in 2023 and 2024 by Russia, Myanmar, Iran and North Korea.
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