Poland is withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention, the international treaty that bans the use, production and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines.
This will allow Poland to legally produce and deploy landmines from February 2026, once the mandatory withdrawal period has passed.
The decision was approved by the Polish parliament in mid-2025 and follows a joint recommendation made earlier this year by the defence ministers of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
All four countries border either Russia or Belarus and have cited worsening regional security as the main reason for leaving the treaty.
The Ottawa Convention, adopted in 1997, prohibits anti-personnel landmines because of their long-term humanitarian impact. Poland ratified the treaty in 2012 and subsequently destroyed more than one million landmines from its Cold War-era stockpiles.
Security concerns on NATO’s eastern flank
Polish authorities argue that the security environment in Central and Eastern Europe has changed fundamentally since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
They point out that Russia has never signed the Ottawa Convention and continues to use landmines in Ukraine.
According to Poland’s Ministry of National Defence, withdrawing from the treaty will give the armed forces “greater flexibility” in planning defensive operations. He added that landmines would only be used defensively.
The Polish government has also highlighted that the United States, China and Russia, are not parties to the treaty, which puts signatory states at a disadvantage in a high-intensity conflict.
Timeline and legal process
Under the rules of the Ottawa Convention, withdrawal takes effect six months after a formal notification is submitted to the United Nations, provided the withdrawing state is not involved in an armed conflict.
Poland’s notification was submitted in August 2025, meaning the ban will officially cease to apply in February 2026.
Defence officials have indicated that preparations for potential domestic production are already underway, though no further details have been released.
Reaction and criticism
The decision has drawn criticism from international humanitarian organisations, which argue that landmines pose a long-term risk to civilians. They warn that withdrawing from the treaty undermines global efforts to reduce civilian casualties caused by unexploded ordnance.
Polish officials have responded by stating that national security considerations must take priority and that the country remains committed to international law.
Part of a wider defence shift
The withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention is part of a broader transformation of Poland’s defence policy. In recent years, the country has significantly increased military spending and expanded the size of its armed forces.
Currently, Poland has the third largest army in NATO with more than 200,000 troops. Only the United States and Turkey have more.