Finland and Lithuania want to start producing landmines themselves to defend their borders with Russia. It was already known that both countries would withdraw from the treaty against anti-personnel mines.
Politicians from both countries express the intention to produce mines to Reuters. “We are going to spend hundreds of millions of euros on anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines,” says Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Defense Karolis Aleksa.
It concerns tens of thousands of mines, which Lithuanian companies will have to make. Once production is underway, Lithuania also wants to supply mines to Ukraine.
Lithuania announced to the UN at the end of June that it would leave the Ottawa Treaty at the end of the year. That treaty prohibits the use of anti-personnel mines, but has not been signed by all countries. Russia, the United States and China are among those missing.
The aim of the treaty is to prevent unnecessary civilian deaths. About 80 percent of the deaths from anti-personnel mines were civilian. The mines remain for a long time after conflicts and can still explode years later if someone walks over them.
Lithuania has a border of 274 kilometers with the Russian exclave Kaliningrad and a border of 679 with Belarus, a close ally of Russia. Since the Russian war in Ukraine, the country also fears an invasion of Lithuania and wants to defend itself against it as well as possible. If Russia does not adhere to the Ottawa Treaty, it makes no sense to do so yourself, Lithuania reasons.
Also Finland wants to set up its own production
Finland is also looking at possibilities to produce anti-personnel mines, says Member of Parliament Heikki Autto of a government party to Reuters. Several Finnish companies are said to have shown interest in producing the mines in discussions with parliament.
Before Finland joined the Ottawa Treaty in 2011, it still had a stockpile of one million anti-personnel mines. That stock has been destroyed because that was a condition of the treaty.
Finland is the NATO member state with the longest border with Russia. The border is 1,340 kilometers long. There are also fears of a Russian invasion in Finland.
The Finnish parliament has already approved withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty. But the departure has not yet been announced to the UN. Six months after that announcement, a country can leave the treaty.
Six European countries are leaving the Ottawa Treaty
Other European countries near Russia are also planning to leave the Ottawa Treaty. Estonia has already announced its departure to the UN. Latvia and Poland are not yet that far, but the parliaments in those countries have already approved the step. The other three countries have no plans for the production of mines yet.
The five countries have indicated that they do not want to lay minefields in peacetime. The mines will end up in storage. In the event of a threat, they will be quickly spread along the border.
In addition, Ukraine plans to leave the treaty. President Volodymyr Zelensky took a first step in that direction at the end of June with a decree. The Ukrainian parliament must now consider the proposal.