Several European countries to withdraw from Ottawa Convention

WAM
01 Jul 2025, 15:22 GMT+10

BRUSSELS, 1st July, 2025 (WAM) -- A number of European countries bordering Russia have announced their intention to withdraw from Ottawa Convention banning the production and use of anti-personnel mines, citing escalating security concerns amid ongoing tensions with Russia.

Countries bordering Russia, notably Ukraine, Finland, Poland and Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - have either withdrawn from the convention or indicated that they would do so.

The Ottawa Treaty of December 1997 bans the use of anti-personnel landmines, as well as the ability to "develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, anti-personnel mines".

The move threatens to reverse decades of campaigning by activists who say there should be a global ban on a weapon that blights huge swathes of territory and maims and kills civilians long after conflicts have abated.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in mid-June raised grave concerns about recent withdrawal announcements, and urged all states "to adhere to humanitarian disarmament treaties and immediately halt any steps towards their withdrawal."

Anti-personnel landmines are generally hidden in the ground and designed to detonate automatically when someone steps on them or passes nearby. More than 80 percent of mine victims are civilians, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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