Finland to exit landmines treaty, hike defense spending given Russia threat, PM says

NATO member Finland plans to quit a global convention banning anti-personnel landmines and boost defense spending to at least 3% of GDP by 2029 in response to the evolving military threat from Russia, the government said on Tuesday, Report informs via Reuters.

Poland and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said last month they would withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa convention due to threats posed by neighboring Russia.

By leaving the treaty, Finland, which guards NATO's longest border with Russia, could start stockpiling landmines again to have them at hand should a need arise.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told a press conference there was no immediate military threat to his Nordic nation, but that Russia poses a long-term danger to all of Europe.

"Withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention will give us the possibility to prepare for the changes in the security environment in a more versatile way," he said.

He added that Finland would allocate an additional 3 billion euros ($3.24 billion) to defense, raising the level of military spending from 2.41% in 2024 to 3% of gross domestic product by 2029.

President Alexander Stubb said in a post on X: "This is a part of Finland’s contribution to Europe taking greater responsibility for our own defense."