Colonel Riku Mikkonen, inspector of engineer troops at the armed forces’ headquarters, said the Baltic states and Poland could also be interested in Finnish-made mines.
Finland, the Baltic states and Poland all withdrew in 2025 from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines. Eastern-flank countries acted jointly in response to Russia’s aggression, and Finland cited the weakened security situation caused by Moscow’s full-scale attack on Ukraine.
Finland shares a border of more than 1,300 km with Russia, the longest among NATO allies. It destroyed about one million mines after joining the treaty in 2012.
STT said domestic production was a necessity as well as a way to secure supplies, since most of Finland’s defence partners are still bound by the convention and few of them make mines.
The Finnish military says no other weapon can fully replace mines in slowing an enemy, noting that Russia continues to use them in Ukraine. It also says mines suit a conscript-based army, whose main strength is a reserve of about 900,000 people. The army began training conscripts and reservists in their use in February.
More than 160 states have ratified the 1997 convention. The United States, Russia and China have not.
(jh)
Source: PAP