Poland and the Baltic states - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, announced on Tuesday through a joint statement by their defense ministers that they are withdrawing from the Treaty on the Ban of Anti-Personnel Mines, known as the Ottawa Convention, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press reported, BTA writes.
The four countries justified their desire to improve their security in the context of the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. By "unanimous" According to their opinion, expressed in the joint declaration, the situation on NATO's eastern flank "has undergone fundamental changes" since these countries joined the Ottawa Convention, the AP points out.
According to the ministers' recommendation to the leaders of their countries, leaving the 1997 treaty, signed by 164 countries (including Bulgaria), would allow the countries in question, which share a common border with Russia, to once again start accumulating an arsenal of anti-personnel mines for self-defense, the AFP notes.
The stated intention to leave the Ottawa Convention for security reasons by Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia followed Lithuania's independent withdrawal from the Oslo Convention - the Treaty on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions - earlier this month. Vilnius justified itself with the Russian threat, while at the same time becoming the subject of criticism from human rights organizations.
"Military threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased. With this decision, we send a clear message: our countries are ready and able to use all necessary measures to protect their territories and freedom“, says the joint declaration of the Ministers of Defense Władysław Kościńska-Kamiś (Poland), Andris Spruds (Latvia), Dovile Šakaliė (Lithuania) and Hanno Pevkur (Estonia).
After the ratification of the Ottawa Convention "the security situation in our region has deteriorated significantly“, believe Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. All four countries are members of the EU and NATO and share a border with Russia (Poland and Lithuania border the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, while Lithuania also borders Belarus and Latvia).
Despite their decision, the four countries said they "remain committed to respecting international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians in times of armed conflict," according to Agence France-Presse.
Ottawa Convention
The Treaty on the Prohibition of the Production, Use, Stockpiling and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction is the international agreement, the UN website states. It is commonly referred to as the Ottawa Convention or the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty.
The Convention was concluded at the Diplomatic Conference for a Comprehensive International Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines in the Norwegian capital Oslo on 18 September 1997.
In accordance with Article 15, the Convention was open for signature by all States in Ottawa, Canada, from 3 December 1997 to 4 December 1997. It remained open for signature at UN Headquarters in New York until its entry into force on 1 March 1999, as recalled on the United Nations website.
Anti-personnel mines come primarily in two varieties: anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines. "Both models have caused great suffering in recent decades and continue to kill and injure civilians, including bystanders, long after conflicts have ended, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) said.
Since entering into force more than two decades ago, the convention has led to a virtual halt in global production of anti-personnel mines and a drastic reduction in their deployment. More than 40 million mines, both planted and stockpiled, have been destroyed and assistance has been provided to survivors and the population living in affected areas. A huge number of mined and suspected hazardous areas have been declared free of anti-personnel mines, the UN said.
Anti-personnel mines can be laid manually or dispersed by launchers - missiles or shells, AFP notes. Triggered by direct physical contact or human proximity, they can kill or cause serious injury. These mines often remain active after the end of hostilities, their purpose being to prevent a presence in a given area.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Ottawa Convention has significantly reduced the use of these weapons, the Polish news agency PAP notes, emphasizing that world powers with a strategic role such as Russia, China and Israel have not joined the agreement. The United States has also not signed the Ottawa Convention.
Since the outbreak of the full-scale Russian war in Ukraine, Russia has massively used anti-personnel mines on Ukrainian territory, which has led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians and thousands of injuries, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, PAP points out.
How each country is acting
Poland and the Baltic states are concerned that the end of the war in Ukraine could prompt Russia to rearm and target them, Reuters notes. “Poland's hands cannot be tied”, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Koszyniak-Kamiś, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said at a press conference.
The country's President Andrzej Duda supports Poland's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, he said at a press conference after a meeting with the Director of the National Security Bureau (BNS) - Dariusz Lukowski, the Deputy Prime Minister, quoted by PAP.
“I believe that very soon all countries on NATO's eastern flank will make a similar decision”, he added. “This shows how determined we are to defend our homeland, to work together in an alliance and to support each other”, is the opinion of the Polish Defense Minister, which AFP emphasized in turn.
He specified that this is actually the beginning of the withdrawal procedure. "A decision by the Council of Ministers is needed here (...), since this is a law on withdrawal from an international treaty. After that, there must be approval from parliament", explained Kosinyak-Kamis, quoted by PAP.
The Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna drew special attention the other day to the fact that Moscow has not joined the Ottawa Convention. "It is not normal to refrain from using weapons that Russia is ready to use against us," he said, quoted by AFP.
At the same time, the Estonian Defense Ministry indicated that at the moment "it does not plan to use anti-personnel mines," in a statement published on the social platform “Ex“.
The Latvian Defense Ministry stressed in turn on Tuesday that Moscow continues to “pose a serious threat to the region“.
“We are carefully considering all options to strengthen Latvia's deterrence and defense capabilities. We have reached a regional agreement with the defense ministers of Estonia, Lithuania and Poland to recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, thereby strengthening our borders. We must prepare for the fact that Russia will continue to pose a threat to the region, regardless of how the military actions in Ukraine develop,“ said Latvian Defense Minister Spruds, quoted by the Latvian Radio and Television website (LSM/LSM.lv).
"Withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention opens up the prospect of producing anti-personnel mines, while at the same time we will continue to comply with international norms and humanitarian law, consulting with our allies“, Spruds pointed out.
The Ministry of Defense and the National Armed Forces of Latvia assessed the country's participation in the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, as well as the political aspects related to the position of allied countries on their obligations to the convention.
The conclusion is that it is possible to develop the production of anti-personnel mines in Latvia and the countries of the region, the minister noted, LSM writes. On the other hand, the regional approach will allow for a reduction in dependence on external supplies, especially in the field of explosives and warheads, the Latvian Radio and Television website writes.
The Latvian government agreed on the same day to support the country's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention. Prime Minister Evika Silinė confirmed the decision at a press conference after a cabinet meeting. The final decision on the withdrawal will have to be made by the Latvian parliament (Seimas), LSM specifies.
“We have decided to start the procedure for withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention“, Silinė said, noting that by the government meeting next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to prepare a draft law to be submitted to parliament.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene said, for her part, that her country is considering what type of mines it should produce, AFP reported. "Options for producing anti-tank and anti-personnel mines were considered," she said.
Shakaliene left yesterday for a visit to Finland, which continues today. According to the official announcement on the website of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, the agenda of the visit includes meetings with Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkinen, the chairman of the parliamentary defense committee Jukka Kopra and representatives of the Finnish defense industry, as well as a meeting with the "Jäger" brigade of the Finnish army, stationed in Lapland.
Finland is next
Finland, the last EU country to sign the Ottawa Convention in 2012, has said it is also considering withdrawing. Helsinki cited Russia's use of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine as the reason, Reuters reported, noting that Finland shares a 1,340-km border with Russia.
"Our intelligence has investigated very thoroughly how Russia operates in Ukraine, and in particular the involvement of infantry in operations, including mass mining," Finnish Defense Minister Häkkinen was quoted as saying by Reuters. "These actions are an argument that it is worth considering the use of anti-personnel mines," the minister added.
The chairman of the Finnish parliament's defense committee, Kopra, said on Tuesday that the decision by Poland and the Baltic states was "good and wise".