The UK Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines despite recent withdrawals from the treaty by several European states, according to a written response from the Ministry of Defence.
Responding to questions from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Defence Minister Al Carns said the Government had noted the decisions by Finland, Estonia and Poland to withdraw from the agreement amid concerns about the regional security environment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Carns said: “His Majesty’s Government has noted the withdrawal of Finland, Estonia and Poland from the Ottawa Convention.” He added that the UK recognises the security concerns faced by those countries and their right to make sovereign decisions. “The UK acknowledges and shares concerns about the security environment in the region as a result of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. We also acknowledge that it is the sovereign right of those countries to make this decision.”
The minister said the UK will continue to engage with the countries involved while seeking to protect broader arms control norms. “The UK will continue to work to mitigate impacts on vital arms control and disarmament norms, while continuing to engage bilaterally on the actions those States plan to take following their withdrawal.”
In response to a separate question about whether the UK had assessed the merits of withdrawing from the treaty itself, Carns reiterated the Government’s current position.
“As a State Party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (also known as the Ottawa Convention), the UK remains committed to the Convention.”
So we remain party to a treaty that effectively prevents us from producing and supplying potentially vital military equipment to our NATO allies.
More priority of international law over military need.
A war involving mines has been fought for 4 years but it’s not something we should consider, even though our politicians say we are on a war footing against a state equipped with landmines that could start a war with NATO in three years
It’s ok though because the UK is spending vasts amount of money to counter mines…….or not
You can blame Princess Diana for this! She is the one who kicked this off and overnight we were denied a defensive weapon for our positions!
This and the restrictive ROE ensuring our forces have one hand tied behind our backs.
The only division of our forces I’ve seen grow over the last 15 years are the Legads – there are hundreds of them