Estonia votes to leave Ottawa anti-personnel landmine ban convention
Estonia's parliament on Wednesday voted to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of anti-personnel landmines, following in the footsteps of neighboring Latvia and Lithuania.
The international agreement prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and requires their destruction.
This year, the Baltic states, Poland, and Finland have left, or are in the process of withdrawing from, the convention. Governments argue it would give Russia an advantage in a future conflict, as Moscow has not signed up to the convention and is actively using anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine.
Eighty-nine Riigikogu members took part in the vote on Wednesday. Of those, 81 voted to adopt the legislation, one was against, and seven abstained.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200), who submitted the bill to the Riigikogu, welcomed the move and said it sends a "clear signal" to Russia: Estonia is ready to use all necessary means to defend its territory and freedom.
"Leaving the convention gives the Estonian Defense Forces greater flexibility and freedom to choose weapons systems and solutions needed to strengthen national defence. This significantly broadens the options for protecting Estonia's security," he said in a statement.
The Ottawa Convention came into force in 1999, and Estonia joined it in 2004.
However, the security situation has worsened over the past 20 years, primarily due to Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Tsahkna said.
He called withdrawing from the agreement the "right step" for Estonia, adding that Russia poses "a serious and long-term threat" to Europe.
The minister said the decisions to leave the convention by eastern flank members shows they are ready and able to use all necessary measures against the aggressor to protect their territories and freedom.
"These decisions are not easy, but given the deteriorated security situation, all means to strengthen our deterrence and defense capabilities must be considered," Tsahkna said.
Latvia and Lithuania have already withdrawn from the convention, while Finland and Poland are still in the middle of doing so.
Estonia's president must now promulgate the law. Withdrawal from the convention will take effect six months after the notification is submitted, provided the country is not involved in an armed conflict at that time.
This article was updated to correct the number of abstentions and votes against the bill.
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Editor: Helen Wright
