UK faces growing pressure to rethink landmine ban amid Eastern Europe's treaty exit

Following recent announcements from several Eastern European nations about their intention to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty on the use of landmines, the UK is considering whether the UK should reassess its own position.

In a debate in the House of Lords, several peers made the case for the UK being more open to the use of landmines, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

The British government currently maintains that it remains firmly committed to the treaty and its ban on landmines but a number of peers used the debate to argue that the UK should reconsider its stance and adopt a more flexible approach toward the potential use of landmines.

Countries such as Poland and Finland have recently indicated plans to exit the 1997 Ottawa Treaty, citing growing security threats from Russia and Belarus as the rationale for wanting to retain the option of deploying landmines.

While the UK government has reaffirmed its commitment to the treaty, a growing number of voices—including the Duke of Wellington, military veterans, humanitarian workers, and even the grandson of former Prime Minister Clement Attlee—have suggested the treaty be reviewed or possibly abandoned. Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace has also publicly backed the idea of the UK withdrawing from the agreement.

The Ottawa Treaty, originally signed in 1997 with the UK among its founding members, seeks to eliminate the use of anti-personnel landmines worldwide. Major non-signatories include Russia, China, Iran, India, North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. The UN estimates that since the treaty took effect, over 40 million landmines have been destroyed, and significant swaths of previously mined land have been cleared.

Despite these achievements, critics of the treaty within the UK describe it as “window dressing,” arguing that it restricts British soldiers by removing a potentially crucial line of defence. They contend that, should the UK find itself in a future conflict, its forces "should have" the option to use landmines for strategic protection.

By Nazrin Sadigova