Five of the six countries of Nato neighbors from Russia and Belarus will protect their borders with a terrestrial mines rug before a possible invasion. Use of explosives is highly controversial.
Since Russia began its war against Ukraine in February 2022, few issues have been as urgent to the born as the defense of its borders in East Europe.
Over the past three years, five of the six military alliance countries bordering Russia or Belarus – Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – They have invested significantly to better protect these borders, namely through the installation of seals and surveillance systems.
Now, a new plan is underway: Terrestrial mines.
These five NATO countries recently announced their departure from Ottawa ConventionInternational Treaty of 1997 that prohibits the use, production and transfer of antipersonal mines. Norway, which shares about 200 kilometers of border with Russia, is the only country that, so far, intends to stay in the agreement.
With this decision, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland may restart the production and storage of antipersonal mines by the border from the end of 2025. This will allow the rapid use of these devices in an emergency.
This Sunday, news emerged that the Ukraine also intends to abandon the agreement.
Land mines, internationally convicted
Antipersonal mines are extremely controversial because, once placed, they represent a indiscriminate threat to both soldiers and civilians – And that’s right many years after the end of a conflict.
Only in 2023, almost 6,000 people around the world were killed or injured by these explosives; About 80% were civiloften children.
Removing these artifacts is dangerous, extremely laborious and very expensive. The Handicap International non-governmental organization counts 58 countries and other regions of the world still contaminated with land mines, even when the conflicts that gave rise to them ended decades ago.
Countries that banned land mines
The Ottawa Convention was signed by 164 countries and ignored by 33 other nationsamong which the United States, China and Russia.
O Kremlin It has, by far, the largest stock in the world’s antipersonal mines: about 26 million. Many of these devices are already being used in Ukraine.
New “iron curtain”?
From the Finnish Laponia, in the far north of Europe, to the Polaca province of Lublin, the five countries of NATO share a border with Russia and Belarus with about 3,500 kilometers of extension. Most of these zones are poorly populated and covered by dense forest, which makes their vigilance difficult.
Concern about a possible Russian attack on the NATO territory in that region is high. According to a report from the British newspaper, alliance experts are already analyzing which areas may be targeted.
With the mines, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland bet on the maximum deterrent: in combination with other border security measures, the objective is to inflict the enemy as many losses as possible, in the shortest timein case of invasion – to determine Moscow from a prolonged war.
It will probably need several million mines and other hidden explosives to effectively protect the entire length of the border. Large areas would become uninhabitable for decadesit is almost impossible to predict potential damage to people and the environment.
In addition to the mines, the countries of the eastern flank of NATO are also building or reinforce fences and walls at bordersto install Modern Surveillance Systems and early alert, and to reinforce their military contingents.
Some of these countries also plan to implement Drone defense systems along the borderdeepen irrigation systems so that they work as trenches in case of emergency, and Plant Trees along strategic roads to camouflage civil and military.
The plan was described by David Blairthe international correspondent of The Telegraph, as a new and explosive “iron curtain” – alluding to the strongly watched border between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War.
Is the use of land mines justified?
A Lithuaniacoastal country of the Baltic Sea located between the exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, is particularly vulnerable. In the south of the country, a narrow 65 -kilometer strip of land separates the two neighbors: it is the Corredor de Suwałkiwhich connects the Baltic countries to Poland, being considered a probable target of an initial attack from Russia.
For this reason, Lithuania intends to invest, in the coming years, about 800 million euros in the production of new terrestrial mines. The strategy was defended by Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene, before what he classified as an “existential threat” to his country.
According to the ruler, the Russia has been increasing the production of mines in recent years, while Europe has destroyed its own stock in compliance with the Ottawa Convention.
Eva Maria Fischer, Handicap International Advocacy Head in Germany, considers the land use plan a dangerous sign and alarming.
“Of course, security concerns of Eastern European countries can be justified in the current unstable international context,” Fischer said in March, when Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia announced their plans to abandon the treaty.
“However, lasting security cannot be built with weapons that kill indiscriminately, remain on the ground long after the end of a conflict and continue to mutilate civilians and destroy subsistence means,” he argued. “There are alternatives to defend a country. They may seem more expensive, but they are not, if the gigantic costs after the use of antipersonal mines are considered.”
