Axworthy calls on Poland, Baltic states to abide by treaty banning landmines

Lloyd Axworthy, former minister of foreign affairs, speaks at a rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, March 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — Former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy says Canada should work to convince eastern European countries alarmed by Russian aggression to abide by a treaty banning the use of anti-personnel landmines.

Poland and the three Baltic nations say they want to withdraw from the international treaty banning landmines due to the threat Moscow poses to front-line NATO states.

In a joint statement issued today, the defence ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia say they “unanimously recommend withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention,” which took effect in 1999.

Axworthy was the driving force behind that convention — which saw most countries agree to ban the use of anti-personnel landmines — and says abandoning it would help speed up the unravelling of the global order.

The former minister tells The Canadian Press that while he agrees with the region’s leaders when they say that security has “fundamentally deteriorated,” pulling back from the convention will make the entire world less safe.

Axworthy says move away from the convention creates further strains in the NATO military alliance and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly should lead an effort to convince allies to stick with the treaty.

With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press