Poland Agrees to Withdraw From the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty

The Polish Sejm has voted to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, manufacture, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines.

RMF24 reported this.

This step is necessary for Poland to respond in a timely manner to current and future threats in the region, primarily from Russia.

413 deputies supported the bill, 15 voted against, and three abstained.

Before the vote, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that this step was key to securing the region.

He noted that the initiative to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention was made at the request of Poland and partners from the Baltic States and Finland.

“Poland cannot be bound by any restrictions that do not allow it to defend its homeland,” Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized.

The Baltic states, Poland, and Finland have previously announced their intention to withdraw from the treaty due to the Russian threat.

In March, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced plans to deploy anti-personnel mines on the borders with Russia and Belarus as part of a program to construct engineering barriers, known as the Eastern Shield.

The Polish Defense Ministry has also announced a search for suppliers of innovative solutions in the field of engineering barriers and infrastructure, including drones for remote mining.

The Ottawa Convention was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Oslo on September 18, 1997, and opened for signature in Ottawa on December 3-4, 1997. It entered into force on March 1, 1999. More than 160 countries have joined it.

However, China, Russia, the United States, India, Israel, and North and South Korea did not sign it.