Finland seeks to buy one million anti-personnel mines, citing Russia
The army has set aside about 100 million euros, with domestic production due to start by 2028. Finland left the Ottawa Convention at the start of the year.
Symbolic image · Photo: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Austin Steinborn / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
The Finnish Defence Forces want to buy one million anti-personnel mines, preferably from domestic manufacturers. About 100 million euros has been set aside. Contracts are to be signed by the end of 2027, with domestic production running by 2028, Colonel Riku Mikkonen of the Army Command told the STT news agency. About half a dozen Finnish companies could manufacture the mines.
"It would be useful in many ways if Finnish companies produced the anti-personnel mines in Finland," Mikkonen said. "However, at this stage, buying the mines from abroad is not totally ruled out." Finland announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines in April 2025; it ceased to be bound by the treaty in January 2026. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have also withdrawn, citing the threat from Moscow.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has called Russia a long-term threat. The two countries share a border of about 1,340 kilometres. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen is urging the EU to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians for as long as the war continues. According to Valtonen, Schengen countries issued nearly half a million such visas to Russians in 2025.