Five neighbours of Russia mull withdrawal from landmines treaty

 
Poland, the three Baltic states and Finland, all of which border Russia, are “close” to an agreement on withdrawing from the treaty banning anti-personnel mines, Lithuania’s defence minister said on March 13.

All five countries have been concerned about their security since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and have previously said they were reviewing their backing for the Ottawa treaty, AFP reports.

But the Red Cross voiced alarm at the apparent growing acceptance in Europe of returning to using long-outlawed weapons.

Last week, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament he was going to recommend the country’s withdrawal from the treaty, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups.

Now the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – plus Finland may be set to join Poland, worried by signs of increasing aggression from Russia.“We believe we are very close to this solution,” Ms Dovile Sakaliene told reporters in Warsaw, when asked about the possible pull-out from the convention.

At a joint press briefing with her Polish counterpart, Mr Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Ms Sakaliene said all five countries were in “very intensive discussions” for a joint decision to “send a common strategic message”. The Polish defence minister called the decision “necessary” and said it was important to “present a common position” on the issue.

More than 160 countries and territories are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, including Ukraine, but not the United States or Russia.

The treaty bans signatories from acquiring, producing, stockpiling or using anti-personnel mines.

The authorities in Kyiv have accused Moscow of “genocidal activities” for using anti-personnel mines during the conflict.

Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million people which was previously under Soviet rule, last week quit the international convention banning cluster bombs, in an unprecedented decision.

It has stressed the need to strengthen its defences, fearing it could be next in line if Moscow succeeds in Ukraine.

In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “very worried” by recent developments and urged states to remind themselves what the conventions were for.

“It is precisely now that these treaties are relevant... and not in times of peace or stability,” ICRC chief spokesman Christian Cardon told reporters at the organisation’s headquarters.

Ms Cordula Droege, who heads the ICRC’s legal department, added: “As states seem to be preparing for war... we also have a questioning of the humanitarian treaties.

“There is a bit of panic in Europe at the moment, and I think states are taking very rash decisions.”

The flurry of announcements on landmines and cluster bombs “came as a bit of a shock”, Ms Droege said.

“There’s a huge concern here that you will see an acceptance of weapons that are stigmatised and should continue to be stigmatised,” she said, recalling that most victims of cluster munitions and landmines are civilians.

“This idea that you can use these mines in a way that’s compatible with international humanitarian law, that you will only use them in areas or on front lines where they will be perfectly distinguishing between civilians and combatants, is just an illusion.”

Ms Droege said it was worth asking “how far does it go?“

“Because will the next thing be that you say, well, actually, we need chemical weapons. They have a great military utility. Is that then acceptable?”