Countries near Russia withdraw from the terrestrial mine, fear attacks

An increasing number of countries bordering Russia abandon a long-standing treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personal land mines.

Tuesday, Finland became the last country to announce that it was withdrawn from the Ottawa Convention, the 1997 Treaty prohibiting the use, sale and production of land mines.

This follows an announcement in March by Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia that they also withdrew, in the midst of increasing concerns concerning Russian aggression.

Military analysts have told Business Insider that the war in Ukraine reshapes by thinking of certain weapons, breaking long -standing prohibitions against the use of weapons such as land mines.

Land mines make a return

“Finland will prepare for the withdrawal of the Ottawa Convention,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb published on Tuesday.

He said that the decision was “based on an in -depth assessment of the ministries concerned and the defense forces”, but added that the country was “attached to its international obligations on responsible use of mines”.

The Ottawa Convention has more than 160 signatories, the United States, Russia and China among notable absences.

By announcing their own decision, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have said: “We believe that in the current security environment, it is of paramount importance to give our defense forces the flexibility and the freedom of choice of the potential use of new systems and solutions of weapons.”

For years, NATO members have developed tactics based on the hypothesis that modern armies should be very handy. But the Ukraine War learned more than the First World War, with parties rooted in strongly defended static positions.

European countries now seem to quickly adjust their strategies in response to Ukraine lessons, and for fear that Russia can attack elsewhere in Europe if it obtains a partial victory in Ukraine.

Jacob Parakilas, a research leader for the defense strategy, Rand Europe’s policies and capacities, told BI that the Ukraine war had proven the continuous utility of terrestrial mines. “The terrestrial mine still has an important military value to shape the battlefield and dissuade or slow down enemy advances,” he said.

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Mines, mines, everywhere

In Ukraine, the two parties have often had trouble unraveling the defensive positions of the other, some of which are strongly fortified with mines fields.

During Ukraine’s counter-offensive in 2023, Russia posed large expanses of explosives, and Ukraine also used land mines. Ukraine is now recognized as the most exploited country in the world, with estimates suggesting that this could take decades and billions of dollars to neutralize them.

Naval mines have also been deployed in the Black Sea, which offer their own long -term problems and challenges.

Regarding terrestrial mines, Riccardo Labianco, the International Director of Politicians of UK Anti-Landmates Charity Mag, told BI that the risk for civilians was too serious to justify the abandonment of the Ottawa Treaty.

“We recognize that there is no easy choice when a state feels threatened with armed assault, but international humanitarian law, including the Ottawa Convention, is designed precisely for moments like these,” he said.

However, Marcus Solarz Hendriks, the chief of the national security unit of Policy Exchange, co-wrote a report last month, calling on the British government to abandon its own ban.

He told Bi that Ukraine had shown that they were a vital weapon to defend itself against large-scale invasions, “namely by restoring maneuverability and channeling troops in pre-preparer” killing areas “, or areas where large troop rallies are targeted.

“This operational advantage is particularly well suited to digitally disadvantaged forces,” he said, “as would probably be the case if these states were forced to defend themselves against attempts to carry out Russian advances.”

Mine

Countries like Finland, and to a lesser extent, Latvia and Estonia share long land borders with Russia, putting them on the front line of any future Russian aggression.

Finland also announced Tuesday that it increased its defense budget to 3% of GDP, and many nations bordering Russia considerably increase their defense expenses.

For those who envisage terrestrial mines, a problem may be to obtain them. The Ottawa Treaty not only prohibits use, but also the manufacture of terrestrial mines, which means that they cannot be easily purchased on the European market.

Parakilas said that some European countries obtain mines from Singapore or South Korea, which has a large border area highly exploited with North Korea.

Even so, mines are not difficult to do, he said, which means that domestic production could be prepared in “the order of the months, rather than years or decades”.

While terrestrial mines, at the base, are little changed, part of the technology has developed. This includes sensors that allow Russia mines to develop to distinguish between types of objects, allowing them to distinguish a civil bus approaching a reservoir.

Others are equipped with devices which mean that they undress after a period of time, reducing the risk that civilians trigger forgotten but not exploded of years later.

However, Parakilas said that sophisticated devices are more expensive and are less likely to be used to exploit large area of ​​territory.

Concerns about mines

While some countries seem to look more favorably on mines, others continue to warn me against the abandonment of the Ottawa Convention, despite increasing threats.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide criticized Finland on Wednesday.

“If we are starting to weaken our commitment, it facilitates the reduction of factions in the world to use these weapons again, as it reduces stigma,” he told Reuters.

But Solarz Hendriks told Bi that a ban on terrestrial mines that made sense in the 1990s was no longer faced with the threats of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, which all have large stocks of terrestrial mine.

“The recent decisions of our allies to fill this capacity gap, in the name of self-defense, therefore include a risk of minimal proliferation,” he suggested.

And as the threat of Russia is developing, as well as concerns about the long-term commitments of the United States to European security, others could soon join people like Finland and Baltic States to reassess their opposition to mines.