Civilians Will Pay the Heavy Price of Poland’s Withdrawal from the Mine Ban Treaty, Warns Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Press Release – For Immediate Release
Geneva, 27 August 2025 – The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) fervently condemns Poland’s intention to withdraw from the life-saving Mine Ban Treaty, as notified formally to the United Nations on 20 August 2025. This move represents a dramatic reversal of Poland’s longstanding support for humanitarian disarmament and international law and aligns Poland’s military with the practices of states like Russia and North Korea.
Under Article 20 of the treaty, the withdrawal will take effect in six months, on 20 February 2026, unless Poland is engaged in armed conflict at that time, in which case the withdrawal would be legally barred until the conflict ends. Poland also retains the right to retract its decision within that period.
“Poland’s withdrawal is indefensible. Claiming to uphold international humanitarian law while preparing to reintroduce weapons that overwhelmingly kill and injure civilians is sheer hypocrisy,” said Tamar Gabelnick, Director of the ICBL. “Antipersonnel mines are banned precisely because they are indiscriminate and inflict disproportionate harm to civilians both during and long after conflicts end. Reintroducing them under the guise of defense is a deliberate step backwards that undermines the principles of International Humanitarian Law and the security of Poland’s own people.”
Poland ratified the Mine Ban Treaty in 2012 under Prime Minister Donald Tusk, becoming the last EU country to join the treaty. According to the Landmine Monitor, Poland has not produced any antipersonnel mines since the mid-1980s, stopped exporting mines as of 1995, and destroyed its entire stockpile of more than one million stockpiled antipersonnel mines by 2016, as required by the treaty.. News reports from earlier this year indicate Poland may now begin to produce antipersonnel mines again, with an initial reported plan to produce of up to one million new mines, according to the Deputy Defense Minister.
Poland was one of the most mine-affected countries in Europe after World War II, and it saw civilians killed and injured by mines well into the 1970s. Survivors and humanitarian experts warn that laying new mines will only recreate the same cycle of suffering that so many Poles have experienced in the past.
“Poland’s right to self-defense is not questioned, but antipersonnel mines offer only a false sense of security as Russia will not be deterred by these outdated weapons. The real danger the mines will pose is to Polish civilians, children, and its own soldiers” said Dejan Ivkov, a landmine survivor and ICBL campaigner from Assistance Advocacy Access-Serbia.
The Mine Ban Treaty, which entered into force in 1999, prohibits the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, and requires the destruction of stockpiles and the clearance of mined areas. It also obliges states to provide assistance to landmine victims. Today, 166 countries are party to the treaty, including all European Union and NATO members except the United States.
Poland’s move follows withdrawals by Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania, which notified the UN of their withdrawal from the Mine Ban Treaty in June and July 2025. In response to these withdrawals, a wide range of former government officials, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, landmine survivors and human rights organizations have expressed deep concern, urging the countries to reconsider and recommit to the humanitarian norms the treaty upholds.
Once withdrawn, Poland will no longer be legally bound to refrain from producing or transferring antipersonnel mines, creating a very real risk of renewed proliferation that goes beyond its borders. Yet in its notification letter to the UN, Poland claims it will remain aligned with the European Union in supporting initiatives aimed at promoting mine action, post-conflict demining, and assistance to landmine victims worldwide.
“It is a schizophrenic stance, to say the least. What affected communities and victims of antipersonnel landmines want is safety, not money that will serve to wash away the guilt of renewed use. This decision is reckless, dangerous, and utterly shameful, and the people of Poland deserve better,” said Tamar Gabelnick, Director of the ICBL.
The ICBL calls on Poland’s government to immediately reverse course and rejoin the community of states working to eradicate these indiscriminate weapons once and for all. Polish civilians, like those in conflict-affected countries, deserve protection from weapons that do not distinguish between soldier and child.
END
Background
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is a global civil society coalition of hundreds of organizations working for a world without landmines. In 1997, the ICBL was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with its founding coordinator Jody Williams. The campaign includes national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across many disciplines including demining, human rights, development, refugee issues, and medical and humanitarian relief.
Additional Information
Why the World Banned Antipersonnel Mines
Illegal: Violate international humanitarian law, cannot distinguish between combatant and civilian.
Civilians = Main Victims: 85% of victims are civilians. 40% are children.
Enduring Harm: Mines stay active for decades, long after wars end.
Limited Military Value: Far outweighed by their humanitarian consequences.
About the Mine Ban Convention
Adopted in 1997, also known as the Ottawa Treaty
Bans use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of antipersonnel mines
Built through unprecedented partnership between states, civil society (ICBL), ICRC, and UN
165 countries are onboard, including every EU and NATO member except the U.S.
Led to a dramatic reduction in global landmine casualties, production, transfer, and use; advanced clearance of mined areas (30 countries became mine-free), and increased support for landmine victims
Current users: Russia, Myanmar, North Korea, Iran
Useful Links
www.icblcmc.org/about-icbl
Landmine Monitor 2024 Report
Nobel Laureates Back the Ban on Antipersonnel Landmines
Joint Appeal to Uphold the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-personnel Landmines and the Convention on Cluster Munitions
Banner on Broken Chair Protests Baltic States' Withdrawal from Mine Ban Treaty
Contact Details
Charles Bechara, Media & Communications Manager
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Email: charles@icblcmc.org
Tel. +41 78 323 51 44
Tamar Gabelnick , Director
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
Email: tamar@icblcmc.org
Tel. +41 78 323 51 44