Summary: Non-signatory Finland acknowledges the humanitarian rationale for the convention, but is not actively considering accession, apparently due to defense-related concerns, including the cost of replacing its stockpiled cluster munitions with other weapons. Finland has participated as an observer in every meeting of the convention. It abstained from voting on key UN resolutions on the convention in 2015 and 2016. Finland has not used or produced cluster munitions, but has imported them and possesses a stockpile.

Policy

The Republic of Finland has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

On 22 May 2017, the director of the arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation in Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sannamaaria Vanamo, responded to Cluster Munition Monitor’s request for updated information.[1] She acknowledged the convention’s important role in facilitating “international engagement with a view to alleviating the humanitarian consequences of cluster munitions.” According to the letter, “Finland continues to regularly evaluate progress in military technologies and developments. From the Finnish perspective no such changes in conditions have taken place which would as yet enable accession to the Convention.”

Previously, in April 2016, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Timo Soini, informed the Monitor that, “we acknowledge the Convention’s role from the humanitarian perspective and its goals for universalization” but also explained that “no such changes in conditions have taken place which would enable accession.”[2]

Finland has provided a similar response to the Monitor every year.[3] Since 2009, the Cabinet Committee on Foreign and Security Policy has conducted annual reviews of Finland’s policy towards joining the convention, but has yet to recommend a change in policy.[4]

Finnish government officials have cited Ministry of Defence concerns about the costs of replacing stockpiled cluster munitions with other weapons as an obstacle to its accession.[5] Likewise, officials have cited costs of implementing the convention’s provisions as well as security concerns as reasons for the lack of accession.[6]

In December 2016, Finland abstained from voting on a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[7]

In an explanation of the vote, Finland joined four other European Union (EU) member states that are not party to the convention—Estonia, Greece, Poland, and Romania—in a joint statement delivered by Poland, which repeated a statement made by the same group of states one year prior, upon abstaining from the vote on the first UNGA resolution on the convention.[8] The five countries state that, “we support the humanitarian goal of the Convention on Cluster Munitions” but “at the same time, we believe that humanitarian concerns must be balanced with States’ legitimate security concerns and military and defence needs.”[9]

Finland participated throughout the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but consistently expressed reservations about the process and about the convention text and was not supportive of a broad categorical ban on cluster munitions.[10] Finland joined the consensus adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2008, but five months later announced that it would not sign the convention in Oslo in December 2008.[11] At the time, Minister of Defence Jyri Häkämies stated that “cluster munitions play an important role in the credibility [and] autonomy…of Finnish defense.” The Finnish military claimed that due to costs and other factors it would not be possible to replace Finland’s stockpile of cluster munitions with alternative weapons within five to 10 years.[12] It also cited security concerns over its border with Russia.[13]

Finland has participated as an observer in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, including the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2016, and it attended the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in September 2015, as well as intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011 and 2014–2015.

In remarks provided on behalf of the Nordic countries at the UNGA First Committee in October 2015, Finland expressed concern at the use of cluster munitions against civilian populations.[14] Finland has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[15]

Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs often affirms the value it places on maintaining “good dialogue” and communication with civil society, including with national NGO Peace Union as well as the CMC.[16] In May 2017, Finland said it “commends the role that civil society continues to play within the arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation field,” and added that “our continued dialogue with representatives of civil society remains a priority.”[17]

Finland is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty and completed the destruction of its stockpiled antipersonnel landmines in 2015.

Finland is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It has not proposed any new CCW work on cluster munitions since the CCW failed in 2011 to adopt a new instrument on the weapons, effectively ending CCW deliberations on the topic and leaving the Convention on Cluster Munitions as the sole international instrument to specifically address the weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, “Finland does not produce cluster munitions nor has [it] used them.”[18]

In early 2005, Patria, a Finnish company, made arrangements to co-produce a 120mm cluster munition mortar bomb called MAT-120, then produced by the Spanish company Instalaza SA. The deal was canceled in 2009 by Patria and the Finnish Defence Forces after Spain signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions. During the development of the program, Patria imported to Finland 305 “live” MAT-120 from Spain in 2005–2007 and also acquired 230 inert MAT-120 bombs. As of July 2011, a total of 136 “live” MAT-120 remained in the custody of the Finnish Defence Forces; none of the MAT-120 imported to Finland were exported.[19]

Finland has acknowledged possessing one type of cluster munition: the DM-662 155mm artillery projectile, which contains 49 dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions with self-destruct fuzes.[20] The Monitor has requested, but never received information on the size and composition of the stockpile.[21]

In 2006, the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands announced the transfer of 18 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) launchers to Finland.[22] It was reported that 400 M26 rockets (each containing 644 M77 DPICM submunitions) were to be included in the sale for qualification testing and conversion into training rockets.[23]

According to standard international reference publications, Finland also possesses BM-21 Grad and RM-70 122mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known if the ammunition for these weapons includes versions with submunition payloads.[24]

Policy

The Republic of Finland deposited its instrument of accession to the Mine Ban Treaty on 9 January 2012, becoming a State Party on 1 July 2012.[1]

Finland has amended its penal code to implement the convention’s provisions into domestic law, including penal sanctions for violations of a minimum of four months imprisonment to a maximum of six years.[2]

Finland submitted an initial Article 7 transparency report in 2013 for the second half of 2012 and provided annual updated reports in 2014 and 2015 for the previous calendar years.

Finland has regularly attended the Mine Ban Treaty’s Review Conferences, Meetings of States Parties, and intersessional meetings despite not joining until 2012. It participated in the Mine Ban Treaty’s Third Review Conference in Maputo, Mozambique in June 2014 and the Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2013. At both meetings, Finland informed States Parties of its progress towards stockpile destruction and reaffirmed its commitment to complete the destruction process by the end of 2015. Finland also reiterated pledges to promote the universalization and full implementation of the convention, and expressly commended the “important work of the United Nations, the ICRC and civil society organizations, in making the Convention work in an efficient manner.”[3]

Finland attended the June 2015 intersessional meetings in Geneva and provided an update on its stockpile destruction efforts.[4]

Finland spoke about its commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty and its own stockpile destruction at the 69^th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and Security.[5]

Finland is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), including Amended Protocol II and Protocol V.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Finland has stated on numerous occasions that it has never used antipersonnel mines and does not have any mined areas, has not produced antipersonnel mines since 1981, and has never exported antipersonnel mines.[6] Finland has not acquired any antipersonnel mines since the early 1970s.

In 2010, information from the Ministry for Defence was released revealing for the first time the size and composition of Finland’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines.[7] This total was reaffirmed in mid-2012 when Finland disclosed that it stockpiled 1,029,763 antipersonnel mines banned by the treaty, comprising 801,618 Sakaramiina 65-98 blast mines as well as 228,145 Putkimiina 43-86 and Putkimiina 68-95 stake mines.[8]

Under Article 4 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Finland is obligated to destroy its stockpiled antipersonnel mines under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 July 2016.

At the Mine Ban Treaty’s Fourth Review Conference in June 2014, Finland informed States Parties that it had completed more than 95% of its stockpile destruction and was on track to finish the destruction by 2015. It states that a total of 744,891 antipersonnel mines were destroyed in 2013, an increase from the 200,000 destroyed in 2012.[9]

In its 2015 Article 7 report, Finland reported the destruction of 2,390 Putkimiina 43-86 antipersonnel mines and 33,239 Putkimiina 68-95 mines in 2014. It declared a remaining stockpile of 21,052 mines, which includes the 16,500 mines retained that are allowed under Article 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[10]

On 18 August 2015, the Finish Defense Forces declared that Finland had completed the destruction of its stockpiles.[11]

Finland began destroying the stockpile by open detonation in August 2012 at a location in Finnish Lapland.[12] From August until 10 December 2013, destruction continued at the Ähtäri army depot in central Finland and at Kittilä, an area in the north of the country used for years for the destruction of old ammunition and explosives. Finland reported that blast mines were to be destroyed by removing the fuze and metallic parts for recycling, with parts to be used during fire and explosion training. The stake mines were to be destroyed by open detonation.[13] In 2011, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs estimated the cost of the stockpile destruction at approximately €220,000 (US$291,742).[14]

Retention

In its 2015, 2014, and 2013 Article 7 reports, Finland has declared retaining 16,500 antipersonnel mines for training and research purposes.[15] In 2011, Finland stated that the retained mines are necessary for the development of and training in destruction techniques, and will be retained for these purposes for the next 20 years.[16]

In 2015, the Republic of Finland contributed €5 million (US$5.5 million)[1] in mine action funding. As in previous years, the largest contribution in 2015 went to Afghanistan (€1,425,000/$1,581,180), with two additional states—Cambodia and Angola—receiving the equivalent of more than $1 million each.

Contributions by recipient: 2015[2]

Finland allocated 70% of its mine action support in 2015 for clearance activities, while 12% went to victim assistance. The remaining 18% was provided to UNMAS for unearmarked activities and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) for core funding.

Contributions by thematic sector: 2015[3]

In 2011–2015, Finland’s contribution for mine action totaled €27.7 million (nearly $36 million), with an annual contribution averaging some €5.5 million ($7.2 million). This is 10% higher than the $32.3 million recorded during the previous five-year period from 2006–2010.[4]

Summary of contributions: 2011–2015[5]

In October 2015, Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs published the results of the evaluation of its humanitarian mine action policy. Among the main recommendations presented in the evaluation was that Finland’s mine action support should focus on “fragile states where it has an embassy” in order to better align with its development and humanitarian cooperation strategy as well as to be able to play an active role in advocacy efforts in the recipient countries.[6] The evaluation recommended the rapid phasing down of funding in Angola and Cambodia—which were among the main recipients of Finland’s support to mine action between 2011–2015 and received respectively $6million and $8.8 million over that period.[7] The evaluation also concluded that victim assistance “should be removed from the humanitarian mine action strategy and placed within existing country development cooperation programmes (health sector) and/or polled funding arrangements with ICRC where applicable.”[8]

In March 2016, at the International Pledging Conference for the implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, Finland pledged €12 million ($13.4 million) to support humanitarian mine action for 2016–2020, representing a drop of more than 50% compared to 2011–2015.[9] This planned decrease in Finland’s mine action budget is the result of budgetary cuts in its development cooperation appropriations.[10] For 2016–2020 Finland has planned to contribute to mine action projects in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, and Somalia, while funding to Angola and Cambodia will be phased out.[11]

In July 2016, at the Pledging Conference in Support of Iraq in Washington, Finland announced €10 million ($11.1 million) in new funding over 2016–2020 to support humanitarian and stabilization in areas liberated from the so-called Islamic State, half of which (€5 million/$5.5 million) will go to mine clearance operations in Iraq and Syria.[12]