Poland, Baltic states recommend withdrawing from Ottawa Convention over security concerns News
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Poland, Baltic states recommend withdrawing from Ottawa Convention over security concerns

The defense ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia announced on Tuesday that they have unanimously recommended their countries’ withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention due to heightened security risks amid escalating tensions with Russia. 

The statement read:

We believe that in the current security environment it is paramount to provide our defence forces flexibility and freedom of choice to potentially use new weapons systems and solutions to bolster the defence of the Alliance’s vulnerable Eastern Flank.

The defense ministers issued the joint statement after a ministerial meeting in which they agreed that the current geopolitical landscape necessitates a reassessment of military defense strategies and that withdrawing from the treaty would allow their countries to enhance border security and protect from potential military threats. The Baltic states have also increasingly voiced concerns about their ability to defend against possible military incursions from Russia.

Several organizations such as Action on Armed Violence expressed their dissatisfaction with the move and urged the countries to reconsider their decision, while also highlighting how the decision also raises broader questions about NATO’s commitment to international humanitarian law. The International Committee of the Red Cross also highlighted its concern with the move, with the organization’s Chief Legal Officer, Cordule Droege saying:

Reintroducing these appalling weapons would be a deeply troubling step backward,” Cordula Droege, ICRC’s Chief Legal Officer, told Reuters. “Anti-personnel mines have limited military utility but devastating humanitarian consequences.

The Ottawa Convention, also known as the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, prohibits anti-personnel mine use, stockpiling, production, and transfer. The convention, which 164 countries ratified after entering into force in 1999, prohibits the use of landmines due to their indiscriminate impact on civilians. Poland has long maintained its reservations and only ratified the convention in 2012. Several notable countries such as the US, China, India, and Israel have not signed the treaty.

The final decision on withdrawal remains subject to government approval in each of these countries.

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