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Poland and Baltic states have announced plans to withdraw from a key international treaty that prohibits antipersonal land mines, citing the growing threat of Russia.
In a joint statement, the Ministers of Defense of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said that since he signed the Treaty of Ottawa, the threats of Moscow and his ally Belarus have “increased significantly.”
It is “essential” to give their troops “flexibility and freedom of choice” to defend the Eastern NATO flank, they said.
The Treaty of Ottawa, also known as the Minas Prohibition Treaty, entered into force in 1997. Its objective is to ban antipersonal mines, those aimed at humans, worldwide, and have been signed by more than 160 countries.
But some important military powers, including China, India, Russia, Pakistan and the United States, never enrolled in it.
All Baltic states had signed the Convention in 2005, while Poland joined in 2012.
In Your joint statement On Tuesday, the Ministers of Defense of the Nations said, however, that the security situation in their region since signed the treaty had “significantly deteriorated.”
“In the light of these considerations, … we unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention.
“With this decision, we are sending a clear message: our countries are prepared and can use all the necessary measures to defend our territory and freedom,” the defense ministers wrote.
But they emphasized that despite the plans to abandon the treaty, Poland and the Baltic States are still committed to international humanitarian laws, “including civilian protection during the armed conflict.”
“Our nations will continue to maintain these principles while addressing our security needs,” they wrote.
The four countries are in the NATO alliance, and the four share borders with Russia.
Since the beginning of the large -scale invasion of Russia of Ukraine in 2022, the Baltic and Poland states have greatly increased military spending, and have included great support for Ukraine.
According to the group of experts from the Kiel Institute, a percentage of GDP, Baltic and Poland states are among the highest help donors for Ukraine.
Ukraine is a signatory to the Ottawa treaty, although has received land mines from the United States During the large -scale invasion of Russia, and in the past he has told the UN that due to the invasion of Russia It cannot guarantee He is respecting the treaty.
Article 20 of the Convention However, he specifically states that a nation cannot withdraw from the treaty if it is currently at war.
The Un Star Ukraine is now the most extracted nation in the world.
