Finland wants to withdraw from the convention banning anti-personnel mines

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has announced that his country intends to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines. It also plans to increase overall defence spending in the coming years. This was reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.

Details

By withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, Finland, which guards NATO's longest border with Russia, would be able to start stockpiling mines for use if necessary.

Orpo noted that there is no direct military threat to his country, but that Russia poses a long-term threat to the whole of Europe.

Withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention will give us more flexibility to prepare for changes in the security environment

At a press conference, Orpo said that Finland will increase its defence spending to at least 3% of gross domestic product by 2029. According to him, spending will increase by approximately three billion euros by that time.

Orpo's statement came as US President Donald Trump stepped up his efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine. This has raised concerns in Poland and the Baltic states that Russia may rearm and strike.

These countries said last month that they would withdraw from the convention because of the military threat from neighbouring Russia.

Reference

The Ottawa Convention provides for the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and their destruction. It was ratified in 1997.

The Convention has been joined by 160 countries, with the exception of Russia. Ukraine signed the Convention in February 1999 in New York. The Verkhovna Rada ratified the treaty on 18 May 2005.

Let us remind you

As UNN wrote earlier, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk instructed the Ministry of Defence to consider the possibility of withdrawing from the Ottawa and Dublin Conventions. This concerns the use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions.