ATHENS 

The Baltic states and Poland on Tuesday recommended withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, the international agreement that bans antipersonnel landmines.

“In light of this unstable security environment marked by Russia's aggression and its ongoing threat to the Euro-Atlantic community, it is essential to evaluate all measures to strengthen our deterrence and defense capabilities,” the defense ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland said in a joint statement.

They said it is “of paramount importance” to allow their armed forces “flexibility and freedom of choice” when it comes to weapons used to defend NATO’s “vulnerable eastern flank.”

The three small Baltic states – with a combined population of some 6-7 million – as well as Poland share a border with Russia, their much larger neighbor.

The international treaty was signed in 1997 and aims to ban landmines that target humans.

As of 2022, 164 states had ratified or acceded to the treaty. However, major powers such as the US, China, and Russia have not.

“With this decision, we are sending a clear message: Our countries are prepared and can use every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom,” the signatories added.

The defense chiefs said that despite the withdrawal, they will “remain committed” to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians during armed conflict.

More than 5,500 people were killed or maimed by landmines in 2021, according to the UN. Most of them were civilians, half of whom were children.

Long after conflicts end, landmines, which can be produced for as little as $1, can lie dormant for years, haunting communities and causing death and injury. Their use violates international human rights and humanitarian laws, according to the UN.

In 2024, the UN reported that Ukraine has become the country with the most landmines in the world, with around 23% of its land at risk of being littered with hundreds of thousands of unexploded remnants of war.

The World Bank has estimated that it will cost around $34.6 billion to clear landmines in Ukraine due to the ongoing war, which Russia began in February 2022.