Poland and the Baltic states said on Tuesday that they want to withdraw from an international treaty banning anti-personnel mines, citing Russia’s growing military threat. In a joint statement, the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland said they “unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention”.
The 1997 treaty — which prohibits the use, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines — has been ratified or acceded to by more than 160 countries. Russia has not joined the agreement, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has turned the war-torn country into the most mine-laden nation in the world, according to reports.
Read more…
Source: Euronews
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Sri Lanka: Prime Minister calls landmine clearance national imperative
May 3, 2025
Even after 16 years after the guns fell silent in Sri Lanka’s civil war, the hidden danger of landmines still lingers across the Northern and Eastern provinces. Speaking at a Donor Coordination and Appreciation Ceremony in Colombo yesterday, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya called landmine clearance a national imperative, not merely a humanitarian task. Around 23 ...
- How southern Ukraine demined
May 3, 2025
In Mykolaiv region, demining operators are using an industrial drone system equipped with a modern magnetometer to detect explosive ordnance. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense, according to Ukrinform. The ministry reminds that southern Ukraine is one of the most heavily mined regions in the country. To effectively locate and identify mines and other ...
- Cambodia: 40-year-old spy satellite photos are helping find forgotten land mines
April 29, 2025
Declassified images from U.S. military satellites are helping find forgotten mine fields in Cambodia. From the late 1960s almost until the end of the 1990s, a bloody war between communist groups and democracy defenders raged, with a few short breaks, in the jungles and on the rice fields of Cambodia. The conflict left behind a hidden ...
- Azerbaijani deminer injured in landmine blast in Gazakh
April 28, 2025
An employee of the Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency (ANAMA) was injured in a landmine explosion while conducting clearance operations in the liberated village of Gizilhajili, in Gazakh district. The incident occurred when Elnur Pashayev, an ANAMA employee (born in 1985), detonated an anti-personnel mine during his work in the region. Pashayev sustained minor injuries from the ...
- Campaigners sound alarm as European nations move to exit landmine ban
April 27, 2025
Rights groups have expressed alarm and warned of a slippery slope of again embracing one of the world’s most treacherous weapons, after five European countries said they intend to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. In announcing their plans earlier this year, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all pointed to the escalating military ...
- Fifty years after the Vietnam War, bombs and landmines still cover an area ‘the size of Tasmania’
April 27, 2025
They found one while digging the foundations of a new hotel. Another was discovered in the middle of a park. A family spotted one in their garden. And Ho Van Lai and his cousins found several in the sand dunes, strange, rusted objects, no larger than a tennis ball. “I was just a 10-year-old boy, ...
- Vietnam: Mine clearance at Quang Tri ancient citadel completed
April 25, 2025
The UK’s Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the Quang Tri Mine Action Centre (QTMAC), in coordination with the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel Management Board, on April 24 handed over the cleared site after completing mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance at the Quang Tri Ancient Citadel, a national special relic site. Since September 2024, the MAG ...
- Cambodia: Botum Sakor district in Koh Kong to be declared mine-free
April 25, 2025
The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) is set to declare Botum Sakor district in Koh Kong province free of landmines on April 29, according to CMAA spokesman Lang Kosal. Kosal stated that the CMAA, in collaboration with the Embassy of India and the Koh Kong provincial administration, will officially announce Botum Sakor as ...
- Sudan mine agency reports 40 incidents, 66 casualties since conflict began
April 24, 2025
Sudan’s National Mine Action Center (NMAC) announced on Wednesday that 40 incidents involving landmine or Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) explosions have been recorded since the conflict began in April 2023, killing 16 people and injuring 50 others in various parts of the country. Since the conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the ...
- Ukraine: Dog teams trained in landmine detection deploy in Mykolaiv Oblast
April 23, 2025
As spring arrives in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine, four teams of highly trained dogs, and their handlers, have been deployed to help detect landmines and explosive ordnance (EO). The teams are working in areas that were heavily shelled between spring and autumn 2022. A team of EO experts works with the dogs and their handlers to investigate ...
- Iraq: IKMAA Destroys Mines, Explosives, and War Remnants in the Kurdistan Region
April 22, 2025
As part of ongoing mine clearance efforts across the Kurdistan Region, the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action Agency (IKMAA) has safely destroyed hundreds of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) that posed a significant threat to civilians. IKMAA Operations in Erbil: In Majidawa village, Soran District, IKMAA teams successfully carried out an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operation. Following ...
- Russian sappers destroy more than 185,000 mines, explosive items in Kursk Region
April 15, 2025
Russian sappers have discovered and destroyed over 185,000 mines and explosive objects in the Kursk Region, the regional authorities said on their Telegram channel. “Currently, Russian sappers have detected and neutralized 185,135 mines and explosive objects in the Kursk Region,” the post states. Additionally, it was reported that more than 675 kilometers of roads and 26,000 ...
- Israel: IDF reservist seriously hurt after unit mistakenly enters minefield on Lebanon border
April 12, 2025
An Israel Defense Forces reservist was seriously wounded after being struck by a landmine when his unit mistakenly entered an Israeli minefield during operations on the Lebanon border, the military said, adding that the incident was under further investigation. The soldier was taken to a local hospital, which reported that his condition had improved and stabilized ...
- Vietnam: Quảng Trị an exemplary model in handling explosive remnants of war
April 11, 2025
After nearly 30 years of international cooperation for unexploded ordnance (UXO) removal, the central province of Quảng Trị has become a model for addressing the consequences of war. Quảng Trị is among the localities which bore the heaviest burden of the war, with unexploded devices impacting approximately 80 per cent of its total area. These residual ...
- Ukraine allies pledge €21bn in fresh military aid
April 11, 2025
Ukraine’s European allies have pledged €21bn ($24bn; £18bn) in a new tranche of military support for Kyiv in what they described as “a critical year” for the war. More than half of this – €11bn in aid over four years – is coming from Germany. British Defence Minister John Healey said the pledges would send a ...
- Cambodia: Nearly half of mine accidents occur outside identified minefields
April 10, 2025
Nearly half of all mine accidents in Cambodia over the past decade have occurred outside of officially identified minefields—an alarming indicator that vast areas remain unsurveyed. The government has tasked the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) to conduct a comprehensive survey to identify contaminated areas in the provinces bordering Thailand in collaboration with the Royal Cambodian ...
- Finland’s planned exit from landmine ban draws sharp criticism from Amnesty
April 9, 2025
The Finnish government’s decision to prepare for withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines risks weakening international law and damaging Finland’s global reputation, Amnesty Finland said on Monday. The treaty, which prohibits the use, production, storage and transfer of anti-personnel mines, has been in force in Finland since 2012. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo announced last ...
- Ukrainian forces planted mines at cemeteries in Kursk Region during retreat
April 7, 2025
Soldiers from the Bars-Kursk unit, engaged in combat in the Sumy area, are conducting daily demining operations at various locations, including cemeteries that were mined by Ukrainian troops during their retreat from the Kursk Region. The unit’s sappers are urging local residents not to visit their relatives’ graves this Easter, as these areas remain unsafe, according ...
- ‘Safe futures start here’: UN calls for global action to eliminate mine threat
April 4, 2025
More than 100 million people worldwide are at risk from landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, in his message for the International Day for Mine Awareness. “Even when the guns fall silent, these remnants of war remain, lurking in fields and on pathways and roadways, threatening ...
- UN reaffirms support for Somalia in tackling explosive threats
April 4, 2025
The United Nations (UN) on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Somalia in the fight against explosive hazards, aiming for a safe and secure future for all citizens. James Swan, UN secretary-general’s special representative for Somalia, said improvised explosive devices (IEDs) continue to pose a significant threat to peace and security across Somalia, with 597 devices ...
- Charities call for more global action on International Day for Mine Awareness
April 4, 2025
As the world marks International Day of Mine Awareness, charities have issued a renewed call for more global action as demining efforts backslide. With many Baltic nations stating preparations to withdraw from the international convention against anti-personnel landmines, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines warns that demining efforts are regressing. In March, the defence ministers of ...
- Spanish Blue Helmets in UNIFIL Hold Conferences on Unexploded Munitions to Promote Safety in Southern Lebanon
April 3, 2025
As part of Spain’s ongoing commitment to the Lebanese people, the Spanish blue helmets of the UNIFIL contingent in the Eastern Sector—led by Spain—continue their awareness-raising efforts. This time, through a series of educational conferences aimed at increasing knowledge of the management of unexploded ordnance (UXO), which poses a serious threat to the security of the ...
