Poland and Baltic States Consider Withdrawal from Anti-Personnel Mine Convention

Poland and the Baltic States are poised to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, citing escalating security concerns due to the growing military threats from Russia and Belarus.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense reported the decision on March 18 in a joint statement. The countries emphasized the need to review their security measures in response to the deteriorating security environment.

“We believe that in the current security environment, it is crucial that our defense forces have the flexibility and freedom to potentially employ new weapons systems and to strengthen defense capabilities,” the statement read.

The defense ministers of the four nations have unanimously recommended the withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention.

The Ottawa Convention, which entered into force in 1999, seeks to eliminate the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines. Ukraine, which ratified the convention in 2005, was previously one of the largest possessors of anti-personnel mines, ranking fifth in the world at the time.

The issue of withdrawal from the convention is still pending approval in the respective parliaments of the countries involved.

Lithuania also withdrew from the Convention on the Prohibition of Cluster Munitions, citing security threats from Russia. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has similarly expressed intentions to withdraw from both the anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions conventions.

In corresponding news, Bavaria’s Health Minister, Judith Gerlach, called for Germany’s healthcare system to be prepared for a potential war scenario, stressing its crucial role in national defense alongside the military.