Finland is initiating preparations to withdraw from the international Ottawa Treaty, which prohibits the storage, production, sale, and use of personal mines, announces Prime Minister Petteri Orpo at a press conference.
As a result, the Finnish military can start storing mines again for the first time since the country approved the treaty in 2012.
Finland and Europe must take all measures to strengthen our deterrent capability and defense capability. Individually and in NATO, he says.
The issue has been debated in Finland recently due to Russia's use of such weapons in Ukraine.
164 countries and regions have signed the treaty, but not, among others, China, Russia, and the USA.
