Speaking at the bill's first Riigikogu reading, Tsahkna, the bill's sponsor, said: "Estonia joined the Ottawa Convention more than 20 years ago. Since that time, the security environment in Europe and the Baltic Sea region has deteriorated significantly and the military threat to NATO member states has increased."

The changed security situation has been a major factor in the decision to withdraw from the convention.

"Russia continues its brutal and unjustified war of aggression against its neighbour Ukraine in pursuit of its imperialist goals, violates its international obligations, including the norms of international humanitarian law, and poses the most serious and long-lasting threat to security in the Euro-Atlantic space," Tsahkna went on.

Today, the bill on Estonia's withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, which bans anti-personnel mines, passed its first reading in the Riigikogu.

This marks a key step in our plans to withdraw, offering the Estonian Defence Forces greater flexibility in choosing weapon systems &… pic.twitter.com/aTQyCnNpmF

— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) May 21, 2025

Leaving the Ottawa Convention would also grant the EDF more flexibility and freedom to choose weapon systems and solutions ideal for bolstering Estonia's defence capabilities where necessary.

The minister stressed that the convention's main focus on land mines does not mean leaving it represents a retrograde step in humanitarian terms.

"Withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention does not affect Estonia's commitment to the objectives and norms of international humanitarian law," Tsahkna added. "We remain committed to limiting the effects of hostilities on civilians and to protecting the victims of armed conflicts, including through supporting humanitarian demining projects."

Russia is not a party to the Ottawa Convention and has been using anti-personnel mines extensively in its war against Ukraine; over 170,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory have been mined, while at the same time Ukraine does not have a legitimate way to use anti-personnel mines against the Russian armed forces itself in order to prevent occupiers from looting their lands and littering them with mines," the minister went on, noting that Ukraine is still a convention signatory.

"Lessons from Russia's war against Ukraine clearly show that if a country unilaterally imposes restrictions on itself in the field of armaments that the opposing party does not follow and does not intend to follow, it puts itself at a disadvantage compared with the opponent," Tsahkna said.

The bill on the withdrawal from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction passed its first reading in the Riigikogu Wednesday. Bills require three readings before going to the head of state for his assent.

Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland have also started the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention; in Latvia and Lithuania's cases, the relevant legislation has already passed into law.

The Ottawa Convention entered into force in 1999, while Estonia acceded to it in 2004, the same year it joined NATO and the EU.

Withdrawal from the Convention takes effect six months after the date of notification, provided that the applicant party is not engaged in any armed conflict at the time.

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