Estonia lifts ban on transporting anti-personnel mines

The Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) has adopted amendments to the Strategic Cargo Act and allowed the transportation of anti-personnel mines through the territory of Estonia.

ERR writes about this.

The explanatory note to the bill indicates that the need to transport anti-personnel mines through the territory of Estonia may arise, for example, in Finland, as well as in the United States, whose military units are stationed in Estonia.

This came against the backdrop of Estonia withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of such mines, in 2025. The decision was explained by the worsening security situation. Ukraine, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland also withdrew from the convention.

The Ottawa Convention was adopted in Oslo on September 18, 1997, but the document entered into force in 1999. More than 160 countries, including most Western countries, have joined the Convention. China, Russia, the United States, India, and Pakistan have not joined it.

Why did Ukraine withdraw from the Ottawa Convention?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained the withdrawal from the Convention by saying that it limited Ukraineʼs right to self-defense.

The department recalled that the Russian Federation is not a party to the Ottawa Convention and has been widely using anti-personnel mines in war since 2014. And since 2022, Russiaʼs massive use of such weapons has created an asymmetric advantage for the aggressor.

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