Committee raises concerns but approves land mine ban
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has approved a consultation document outlining how Finland will accede to the Ottawa land mine treaty next year. Parliament will vote on ratifying the Ottawa treaty next week.
Members of the Finns Party sitting on the committee remain opposed to the land mine ban. In 2004 parliament accepted a security and defence policy review that Finland should join the land mine treaty in 2012. That was confirmed by another review in 2009.
The committee heard that replacing the weapons has not been unproblematic, because of the costs involved.
The committee is also concerned that other countries including Russia, China and the United States have not signed up to the land mine prohibition. Since it was agreed in 1999, 157 countries have signed the treaty. Mines were previously manufactured in 54 countries, but they are now made in just 12.
Finland has more than a million land mines in stock, and has a budget of around 200 million euros to spend on replacing them between 2009 and 2016. This will be spent on adjusting anti-tank mines and acquiring new surveillance planes and sensors.
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