Poland has officially withdrawn from the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, marking a significant shift in Eastern European defense policy. Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski announced that Poland will resume manufacturing and deploying both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines along its eastern border with Belarus and Russia.

This decision comes as Poland completes its Eastern Shield fortification project, a massive border defense system initiated in 2024. The country had previously destroyed its entire stockpile of antipersonnel mines by 2016 after ratifying the Ottawa Convention in 2012. Poland joins Finland, the Baltic states, and Ukraine in abandoning the treaty following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk emphasized that Poland could deploy mines along its eastern borders within 48 hours if threatened. While human rights groups have condemned the move, arguing that antipersonnel mines pose unacceptable risks to civilians, Polish officials maintain they will only use the weapons in response to a "realistic threat of Russian aggression." Russia, which has never signed the treaty, is among nearly three dozen countries that continue to maintain and potentially use antipersonnel mines.