New “Iron Curtain”: Europe is preparing to mine the border with Russia

Europe is preparing to create a new “Iron Curtain” – this time not of concrete, but of millions of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland have announced plans to withdraw from the 1997 Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of anti-personnel mines, and will notify the UN in the coming months.

This is reported by The Telegraph.

It is noted that the purpose of this step is to prepare for a possible aggression from Russia, which, according to military intelligence estimates, could occur as early as 2028–2030. In the event of Putin’s full-scale offensive against NATO, the new mine shield should deter the enemy and buy time to redeploy allied forces.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene directly calls Russia an “existential threat” and claims that the Defense Ministry is allocating 800 million euros for the production of mines, both anti-tank and anti-personnel.

According to her, Russia has never joined the Ottawa Convention and has amassed the world’s largest arsenal of mines — over 26 million units — which are already maiming and killing Ukrainian civilians.

The situation is particularly tense in Lithuania, which has a 450-km border with Belarus and Kaliningrad. In the area near the village of Shadzhunai, where the enemy border is only a few hundred meters away, people live in constant fear. Despite this, the government is preparing for the worst – minefields could be deployed as early as the end of this year.

Former Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurinas Kasciunas, who developed the mine plan, emphasized that “if we don’t use mines, Russia will definitely use them. This is a reality that we must be prepared for.”

Poland, the Baltic countries, and Finland also plan to create a network of defensive lines along their borders with Russia and Belarus, thus creating a new explosive “Iron Curtain” over 3,000 km long in Europe.

Earlier, the defense ministers of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania called on their countries to reconsider their participation in the Ottawa Treaty , which bans the use of anti-personnel mines.

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