Finland, the seventh largest country in the European Union and the least densely populated of the group, has carried out a collection of signatures to demand Finland’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty, which it joined in 2012, whichIt demands the restriction of the use of anti-personnel mines.
The request, which met the necessary threshold of 50,000 signatures, It has been transferred to the Finnish parliament, where it will be debated, as revealed by the Finnish national broadcaster Yle. The initiative began on December 6, on Finnish Independence Day, by MEP Mika Aaltola, former Defense Minister Jussi Niiniste, former commander of the Finnish Defense Forces, Admiral Juhani Kaskela, and several former diplomats.
It should be noted that the Ottawa Convention required the prohibition of the production, acquisition, storage, sale and transfer of anti-personnel mines. However, after the massive use of infantry by Russian troops, Finland needs to organize for military conflict. “The situation has changed significantly since Finland abandoned anti-personnel mines and acceded to the Ottawa Convention in 2012,” said Janne Jaakola, commander of the Finnish Defense Forces.
Meanwhile, United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that Biden’s initiative to send antipersonnel mines It was justified with Russia’s change in tactics in the conflict, since they consider that their supply is one of the keys to paralyzing the Russian offensive.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, on the other hand, criticizes that “anti-personnel mines continue to be the cause of amputations and deaths even after armed conflicts have ended, and it is generally civilians who suffer their horrendous consequences.” According to the United Nations, more than 10 million stockpiled mines await destruction and there are huge tracts of land that remain “infested and therefore too dangerous to put into productive use.”
