Finland: Controlled explosion carried out on drone warhead in municipality of Iitti

The Finnish Defence Forces and police detonated an unexploded warhead found in a remote area of Iitti on Saturday. The device had detached from a suspected Ukrainian drone discovered nearby. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told Yle on Sunday that Read More …

Anti-personnel mines are back in Europe

To mark Poland’s official withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention or the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, Julia Głębocka, Human rights researcher for Amnesty International Poland, reflects on what the return of these indiscriminate weapons means for human rights in Europe. Not Read More …

Finland’s withdrawal from Ottawa Convention to take effect

Finland’s withdrawal from the Ottawa Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention will take effect on 10 January. Finland remains committed to the humanitarian objectives of the Ottawa Convention. Finland’s decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention was based on an assessment of Finland’s Read More …

Landmines: Action Needed to Reinforce Ban

The global ban on antipersonnel landmines saves civilian lives but faces serious threats from countries leaving the treaty and new landmine use, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing the “Landmine Monitor 2025” report. Member countries should take immediate and Read More …

Landmine casualties hit four-year high as treaty setbacks deepen

Civilian deaths and injuries from landmines and explosive remnants of war have risen to their highest level in four years, according to the Landmine Monitor 2025 report launched in Geneva on Monday. It documents 6,279 casualties in 2024. Children remain Read More …

Clearing the Mines 2025 – Report Reveals Worst-Ever Violations of the Mine Ban Convention and Urges Action by States Parties

Mine Action Review today published Clearing the Mines 2025, its annual global assessment of anti-personnel (AP) mine contamination, survey, and clearance, ahead of the TwentySecond Meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), taking place in Geneva Read More …

European countries are now turning to landmines to create new deadly defensive barriers from Russia

Five Nato countries neighbouring Russia or its ally, Belarus, have announced that they are to opt out of the Ottawa treaty of 1997. This treaty bans the use by signatories of anti-personnel (AP) landmines. These states – Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Read More …

Finnish Defence Forces request for participation application – EOD/IEDD, CBRN robots

The Finnish Defence Forces asks requests for participation requests related to the procurement of robots. The purpose of this procurement is to equip a part of Finnish Defence Forces EOD- and IEDD-teams with two different size robots. Robots will be Read More …

Finland and Lithuania set to produce anti-personnel mines

Lithuania and Finland look set to start domestic production of anti-personnel landmines next year to supply themselves and Ukraine because of what they see as the military threat from Russia, officials from the two NATO member states told Reuters. The Read More …

Ukraine on track to withdraw from Ottawa anti-personnel mines treaty

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he had signed a decree to pull Ukraine out of the Ottawa Convention banning the production and use of anti-personnel mines as a necessary step in view of Russian tactics in their 40-month-old war. Read More …

Finland exits landmine ban treaty amid defence shift

The Finnish Parliament has approved the government’s proposal to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty, reversing the country’s long-standing commitment to banning anti-personnel landmines. The decision passed with 157 votes in favour and 18 against, with no abstentions and 24 members Read More …

UN: Guterres to launch life-saving campaign strengthening mine action worldwide

The UN Secretary-General is set to launch a global campaign to boost support for disarmament and mine action. António Guterres announced the move in a statement issued on Monday, in response to plans by several UN Member States to withdraw from Read More …

Landmines imperil the EU’s moral compass

The European Union has long stood at the forefront of the fight against anti-personnel landmines. Its early and active support for the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty reflected a shared European belief: that these weapons are inherently inhumane, fundamentally indiscriminate, and Read More …

Campaigners sound alarm as European nations move to exit landmine ban

Rights groups have expressed alarm and warned of a slippery slope of again embracing one of the world’s most treacherous weapons, after five European countries said they intend to withdraw from the international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines. In announcing their Read More …

Finland’s planned exit from landmine ban draws sharp criticism from Amnesty

The Finnish government’s decision to prepare for withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel landmines risks weakening international law and damaging Finland’s global reputation, Amnesty Finland said on Monday. The treaty, which prohibits the use, production, storage and transfer of Read More …

Which countries are quitting a key landmine treaty and why?

NATO members Poland, Finland and all three Baltic states have queued up over the past few weeks to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, in the face of what they say are growing military threats from Russia. The Read More …

Finland: Move to leave convention banning anti-personnel mines could put civilian lives at risk

Reacting to news that the Finnish government has initiated the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa convention, a landmark treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel mines, Esther Major, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Research in Europe, said: “The Finnish government’s Read More …

EU hands over second group of mine-sniffing dogs, metal detection drones to Ukraine

The European Union has provided Ukraine with a second group of explosive and mine detection dogs trained in the EU countries, including Finland, Belgium and Luxembourg. The certification of the dogs and their transfer to the handlers of the Ukrainian Read More …

EU provides explosive and mine detection dogs to Ukraine

The EU has launched a project to train and donate 50 explosive and mine detection dogs to the Ukrainian authorities. Nine of them have already been paired with Ukrainian dog handlers. According to the European Commission, 30% of Ukraine’s territory Read More …

Finland to donate three Leopard 2R demining tanks to Ukraine

On the one-year anniversary of the start of Russia’s war of aggression, Finland has decided to send another package of defence materiel to Ukraine. The aid package is valued at over EUR 160 million, and the combined value of all Read More …