Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Saturday 30 November 2024

Anti-personnel mines and Finland

The topic of the news week is anti-personnel mines, i.e. anti-personnel mines. Now we will tell you more about mines.

Landmines and the Ottawa Convention

Anti-personnel mines have been in the news a lot this week in Finland. Cluster mines are installed in the ground, on the surface of the earth or in water.

A mine is meant to explode when hit by an enemy or their vehicle.

However, mines are also dangerous for civilians. The Ottawa Convention on the Banning of Anti-Personnel Landmines was adopted in 1997. The Convention has 156 member states.

37 countries are not part of the agreement. These include, for example, Russia, which is waging a war of aggression in Ukraine.

The situation in Finland

Finland joined the Ottawa agreement in 2012 and has destroyed its own anti-personnel mines. At the beginning of the 21st century, it was generally thought in Europe that the danger of war was low.

Finland also wanted to be among like-minded countries in combating the dangers of mines around the world.

Now Finland is considering whether Finland can withdraw from the agreement and put the mines into use. European countries are preparing for crises and war because Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022.

We are looking for a solution to landmines

Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen says that Finland can use mines responsibly, because mines are only dangerous to the enemy. When there were still mines in Finland, their locations were marked on maps.

The President of the Republic, Alexander Stubb, said in Ylen’s Ykkösaamu that the needs of Finland’s defense must first be determined and then action should be taken.

Stubb said the world is different now than it was at the time of the Ottawa Agreement.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says that the issue of landmines must be considered in the government’s defense policy report.

Among the parties, Basic Finns, Center, Christian Democrats and Liike Nyt want anti-personnel mines to be used again. Other parties are still thinking or opposing.

The Peace League and the Finnish Red Cross say that mines are always dangerous for civilians.

Repeat

The topic of the news week was mines. Let’s repeat the most important things.

In Finland, there is a discussion about whether anti-personnel mines, i.e. anti-personnel mines, can be used again.

The threat of war in Europe has made countries think about defense matters.

This was Uutisviikko in plain Finnish, see you again. Goodbye!