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Foreign Minister Tsahkna at the first reading of the bill for withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention: flexibility in planning military defence contributes to Estonia's security

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

21.05.2025 | 18:43

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 or the Ottawa Convention passed the first reading in the Riigikogu today. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who submitted the bill to the Riigikogu, said that leaving the Ottawa Convention would give the Estonian Defence Forces greater flexibility and freedom to choose weapon systems and solutions that could be used for reinforcing Estonia's defence capabilities if necessary.

"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," Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said at the first reading of the bill. "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."

The foreign minister said that Russia was not a party to the Ottawa Convention and was using anti-personnel mines extensively in its war against Ukraine, having mined more than 170,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory.

"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, as Ukraine is a party to the Ottawa Convention," Tsahkna noted. "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 to the opponent."

According to the foreign minister, leaving the Ottawa Convention would give the Estonian Defence Forces more flexibility and freedom to choose weapon systems and solutions that can be used to strengthen Estonia's defence capabilities if necessary.

"Withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention does not affect Estonia's commitment to the objectives and norms of international humanitarian law," Tsahkna said. "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."

In addition to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland have also started the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention. In Latvia and Lithuania, the relevant law has already been adopted by the parliament, and discussions are imminent in the Finnish and Polish parliaments.

The Ottawa Convention entered into force in 1999 and Estonia acceded to it in 2004. Withdrawal from the Convention shall take effect six months after the date of notification, provided that the state party is not engaged in an armed conflict at the time.