The Baltic States and Poland will withdraw from the landmine treaty due to the Russian threat

With Russia and Belarus posing greater concerns, Poland and the Baltic states have decided to withdraw from the landmine pact.

Poland and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have declared their intention to leave the Ottawa Treaty, which forbids the use of anti-personnel landmines, due to growing security risks posed by Belarus and Russia.

To protect NATO’s eastern flank, the defense ministers of the four nations emphasized in a joint statement the importance of giving their soldiers “flexibility and freedom of choice.” They said that regional security had “significantly deteriorated” after signing the treaty, necessitating a reexamination of their position on the use of landmines.

Since its establishment in 1997, more than 160 nations have ratified the Ottawa Treaty, often known as the Mine Ban Treaty. It was never signed, though, by powerful military nations like the US, China, India, Russia, and Pakistan. Poland signed in 2012, but all of the Baltic states had done so by 2005.

In spite of their intentions to withdraw from the pact, Poland and the Baltic states reiterated their adherence to international humanitarian law, which includes safeguarding civilians in times of force. The declaration stated that “our nations will continue to uphold these principles while addressing our security needs.”

All four nations border Russia, and since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they have dramatically raised their military budgets. Poland and the Baltic states are among the top assistance providers to Ukraine in terms of GDP percentage, according to the Kiel Institute.

Although the US has sent landmines to Ukraine as part of its war effort against Russia, Ukraine is a party to the Ottawa Treaty. Prior to the invasion, the nation told the UN that it could not completely ensure adherence to the treaty. Ukraine is currently the most mined country in the world, according to UN data.

A nation cannot leave the Ottawa Treaty if it is actively involved in a war, according to Article 20 of the treaty. Poland’s decision to withdraw from the treaty indicates a growing willingness to take more aggressive defense measures as tensions with Russia continue to increase, even if the Baltic nations and Poland are not at war at the moment.