Tallinn: The Estonian Government has approved a bill on withdrawal from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Treaty, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Thursday. "Today, the Estonian Government approved a draft proposal to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention - a significant step toward ensuring we're ready to use all necessary measures to defend our territory and our freedom if needed," Tsahkna said on X.

According to Namibia Press Agency, in March, the defense ministers of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania announced their decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty and recommended that their countries' leaders finalize that decision. In early April, the government of Finland also said that the country had begun preparations for withdrawal from the convention.

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention prohibits the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines and provides for their destruction due to their excessively injurious and indiscriminate effects. It was signed in the Canadian capital of Ottawa in 1997 and went into effect in 1999. A total of 163 countries have acceded to the treaty.