Parliament approves Poland’s withdrawal from international anti-landmine treaty

Jun 26, 2025 | Defence, Politics

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland’s parliament has approved a proposal by the government to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty, which commits signatories to eliminate the use of anti-personnel landmines. Warsaw argues that mines are needed to counter the growing threat of Russia, and plans to deploy them along its eastern borders.

“Poland cannot put itself in a straitjacket that would prevent us from defending our homeland,” said defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz during debate on the bill.

He noted that Finland and the three Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – are also preparing to abandon the Ottawa Treaty and said that Poland is coordinating its plans with them.

The bill in question received overwhelming support from both the ruling coalition, which ranges from left to centre-right, and the right-wing opposition. A total of 413 MPs voted in favour while only 15 were against and three abstained in the Sejm, the more powerful lower house of parliament.

The main source of opposition were nine MPs from The Left (Lewica), which is part of the ruling coalition. Among them were two government ministers, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk and Katarzyna Kotula. However, the party’s remaining 12 MPs voted in favour of the measure.

The legislation now passes to the upper-house Senate, which can delay but not block it, before moving to President Andrzej Duda, an opposition ally. Duda can sign the bill into law, veto it, or send it to the constitutional court for assessment.

 

Poland ratified the Ottawa Treaty in 2012 and, over the following three years, destroyed all of its anti-personnel mines – over one million in total. But, in March this year, Poland and the three Baltic states announced plans to withdraw from the treaty.

Last week, Finland’s parliament also voted by a large margin to pull out of the treaty, citing the threat posed by Russia. Its defence minister, Antti Hakkanen, said that “the government and parliament have a duty to take measures that reduce Finland’s risk of being attacked”, reported Euronews.

Currently, over 160 countries have agreed to the terms of the treaty; among those who have not are Russia, China and the United States.

In response to recent developments, the UN’s secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said earlier this month that he was “very concerned by announcements by several UN member countries to withdraw from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention”.

The use of landmines is controversial because they are indiscriminate weapons and can remain in place long after a conflict has finished, meaning they often end up harming civilians.

However, in March, the defence ministers of Poland and the Baltic states said that they need to “send a clear message: our countries are prepared and can use every necessary measure to defend our territory and freedom”.

But they also insisted that, “despite our withdrawal, we will remain committed to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians during an armed conflict”.

Last year, the Polish government unveiled plans for the “Eastern Shield”, a major fortification of Poland’s borders with Belarus and Russia that would potentially include the arming of minefields. The plans are being coordinated with the three Baltic states.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Ministerstwo Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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