Poland and Baltic states recommend leaving antipersonnel land mine treaty, citing threat from Russia

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland and the three Baltic nations said Tuesday that they want to withdraw from an international convention that bans antipersonnel land mines due to the growing threat from Russia to front-line NATO states.

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.