With nod to neighbor Russia, Finland to quit global landmines ban

MILAN — Finland, which shares NATO’s longest border with Russia, will withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines , according to President Alexander Stubb.

The decision comes shortly after Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland said they were assessing the possibility of exiting the treaty, which would allow them to stockpile and use landmines to secure their respective borders with Russia.

“Finland will prepare for the withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention – the decision is based on a thorough assessment by the relevant ministries and the Defense Forces,” Stubb said in a statement published on X, formerly Twitter.

Finland shares a 1,340 kilometer border with Russia, the longest of any alliance member country.

The convention, which was formalized almost three decades ago, has 133 signatories and 165 parties, according to the latest available data from the United Nations. However, countries such as Russia, Belarus, the United States and China have never ratified it.

Moscow has made extensive use of anti-personnel mines in Ukraine, with the UN reporting that Ukraine had become the most mined country in the world last year, with “hundreds of thousands of explosive remnants of war.”

The Ukraine war has highlighted the double-edge sword that landmines represent in military operations. Despite the long-term dangers that unexploded ordnance poses to civilians, the weapons have allowed Ukrainian troops to effectively defend themselves and their territory against Russian aggression.

It appears to be these defensive advantages that European countries are after, according to the Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

“Withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention will give us the possibility to prepare for the changes in the security environment in a more versatile way,” he said during a press conference on April 1.

Finland also committed to raising its defense expenditure to 3% of its gross domestic product by 2029, according to Stubb.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——芬兰总统亚历山大·斯图布表示，芬兰将退出禁止杀伤人员地雷的《渥太华公约》。芬兰与俄罗斯拥有北约最长的边界线。

此前不久，立陶宛、拉脱维亚、爱沙尼亚和波兰表示，他们正在评估退出该条约的可能性，这将允许他们储备和使用地雷来保护他们各自与俄罗斯的边界。

“芬兰将为退出《渥太华公约》做好准备——这一决定是基于相关部委和国防部队的彻底评估，”斯塔布在 X（前身为 Twitter）上发表的一份声明中表示。

芬兰与俄罗斯接壤，边界线长达 1340 公里，是所有联盟成员国中最长的。

根据联合国最新公布的数据，这项近30年前正式通过的公约共有133个签署国和165个缔约方。然而，俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、美国和中国等国至今仍未批准该公约。

莫斯科在乌克兰广泛使用了杀伤人员地雷，联合国报告称，乌克兰去年已成为世界上地雷最多的国家，境内有“数十万枚战争遗留爆炸物”。

乌克兰战争凸显了地雷在军事行动中的双刃剑效应。尽管未爆弹药对平民构成长期威胁，但这些武器也使乌克兰军队能够有效地保卫自身及其领土，抵御俄罗斯的侵略。

芬兰总理佩特里·奥尔波表示，欧洲各国似乎都在追求这些防御优势。

“退出《渥太华公约》将使我们有机会以更加灵活的方式应对安全环境的变化，”他在4月1日的新闻发布会上说。

据斯塔布称，芬兰还承诺到 2029 年将其国防开支提高到国内生产总值的 3%。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。