The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has urged international leaders to push Poland and Finland to abandon plans to produce antipersonnel mines, warning that restarting production could lead to wider use and exports.
The coalition called on senior UN officials, humanitarian organizations, and foreign ministers to intervene with both governments.
Both Warsaw and Helsinki have withdrawn from the Mine Ban Treaty, which prohibits antipersonnel mines.
However, the ICBL stressed that leaving the agreement does not require them to resume production or deployment. Those remain separate decisions that their governments can reverse.
The letters’ recipients included the UN secretary-general, European Union officials, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and foreign ministers from countries supporting humanitarian disarmament.
Antipersonnel mines are designed to explode when triggered by a person’s presence, proximity, or contact.
They cannot distinguish between troops and civilians and can remain dangerous long after fighting ends.
According to ICBL’s Landmine Monitor 2025, civilians accounted for more than 90 percent of recorded casualties from mines and explosive remnants of war in 2024.
Children made up 46 percent of civilian casualties whose ages were known.
European Mine Procurement Plans
Poland’s planned acquisition of 14.7 million antipersonnel mines could make it one of the world’s largest stockpilers, according to the ICBL.
Its Armaments Agency opened market consultations in March, a month after the country’s treaty withdrawal took effect.
Polish officials have suggested deploying mines along the eastern borders if threatened and supplying surplus production to allies, including Ukraine and the Baltic states.
Finland announced plans in January to buy domestically manufactured antipersonnel mines, with first deliveries expected in 2027.
A senior army officer said purchases could reach one million mines.
Finland’s withdrawal from the treaty took effect earlier that month.