The European Union has long stood at the forefront of the fight against anti-personnel landmines. Its early and active support for the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty reflected a shared European belief: that these weapons are inherently inhumane, fundamentally indiscriminate, and have no place in modern warfare.
This was a principled stance rooted in the devastating humanitarian consequences of landmine use. But a dangerous new precedent has emerged as five EU member states —Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland — have moved to withdraw from the Mine Ban Treaty, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a rapidly deteriorating security environment. This puts the EU under moral pressure to act. Anti-personnel landmines do not distinguish between a soldier and a child. Once laid, landmines remain active for years, even decades, long after hostilities have ended. They lay still and maim a civilians trying to return to normal life, to rebuild, to farm their land.
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Source: The Parliament
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