Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe

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The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe ( CFE Treaty ; English Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty , CFE ) sets limits established for the number of heavy weapons systems that can be deployed in Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals. After graduation, it led to drastic reductions in stocks of weapons that can be used for offensive purposes. A verification system was agreed for the control, which contains information obligations and inspections.

The original contract partners were the member states of the “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” ( NATO ) and the Warsaw Pact (WP), which de facto no longer existed when the negotiations were concluded. The contract was on 19 November 1990 on the occasion of the CSCE - Summit in Paris signed by the Government of the six eastern and western 16 States Parties. It entered into force provisionally on July 17, 1992, and finally on November 9, 1992.

Unsuccessful precursors to the CFE Treaty negotiations were the MBFR negotiations from 1973 to 1989.

The radical changes in the world situation (dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, collapse of the Soviet Union , NATO expansion) made adjustments to the treaty necessary. On November 19, 1999, the Agreement on the Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was signed by the participating States. However, this so-called adapted CFE Treaty (A-CFE) was ratified in 2004 by the successor states of the Soviet Union Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, but not by the NATO countries.

In December 2007 Russia suspended the implementation of the CFE Treaty and the A-CFE Adaptation Agreement for the most part. In March 2015, Russia announced that it would no longer take part in the meetings of the advisory group, which was not assessed as a formal dismissal, but as a factual exit.

Contract

The treaty initially reduced the major imbalance between the conventional armed forces of NATO and the Warsaw Pact at the time. The contract sets limits for five weapon categories: battle tanks , armored combat vehicles , artillery with min. 100mm caliber, fighter jets and helicopters .

Area of ​​application is from the Atlantic to the Urals (Atlantic-to-the-Urals, ATTU zone). There are 30 contracting states: Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belgium , Bulgaria , Denmark , Germany , France , Georgia , Greece , Iceland , Italy , Canada , Kazakhstan , Luxembourg , Moldova , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Romania , Russia , Slovakia , Spain , the Czech Republic , Turkey , Ukraine , Hungary , the United States of America , United Kingdom and Belarus .

The contract has extensive verification regulations (including inspections and information exchange). The fundamental political changes in Europe, however, made it necessary to adapt to the new structures in Europe.

The first CFE review conference from May 15 to June 1, 1996 in Vienna led to an amicable solution with Russia on the flank problem that had been simmering since 1993 ; This solution relaxed the barriers for Russia and Ukraine in the flank region - defined in Article V, Paragraph 1, Letter A of the Treaty. Because of the military problems on its southern flank, Russia has not complied with the maximum numbers for weapon systems stipulated in the CFE Treaty. New and reduced flank regions were resolved, which came into force on May 31, 1999. The members, which have meanwhile grown to 30 signatory states, reaffirmed the fundamental importance of the CFE Treaty as a cornerstone of the European security architecture and were determined to continue the conventional arms control process by improving the effectiveness of the CFE Treaty, among other things.

Contract text

The Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Greek Republic, the Republic of Iceland, the Italian Republic, Canada, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland , the Portuguese Republic, Romania, the Kingdom of Spain, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of Hungary, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, hereinafter referred to as Contracting States -

Headed by the mandate of January 10, 1989 for negotiations on conventional armed forces in Europe, which they have been conducting in Vienna since March 9, 1989,

Guided by the aims and purposes of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, in the context of which the negotiations on this Treaty were conducted,

Bearing in mind their obligation to refrain from any threat or use of force that is directed against the territorial integrity or the political independence of a state or that is otherwise incompatible with the goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations , in their mutual relations as well as in their international relations in general ,

Conscious of the need to prevent any military conflict in Europe,

Conscious of the shared responsibility that they all bear for striving for greater stability and security in Europe,

endeavors to replace military confrontation with a new structure of security relations between all contracting states based on peaceful cooperation and thereby contribute to overcoming the division of Europe,

Committed to the goals of creating a safe and stable equilibrium of conventional armed forces in Europe at a lower level than before, eliminating imbalances that are detrimental to stability and security and - above all - the ability to trigger surprise attacks and initiate large-scale offensive actions to eliminate in Europe,

Bearing in mind that they have signed or acceded to the 1948 Brussels Treaty , the 1949 Washington Treaty or the 1955 Warsaw Treaty and that they have the right to be or not to be a party to an alliance,

committed to ensuring that the number of weapons and equipment limited by the treaty in the area of ​​application of the treaty

  • 40,000 battle tanks,
  • 60,000 armored combat vehicles,
  • 40,000 artillery weapons,
  • 13 600 combat aircraft and
  • 4,000 attack helicopters

does not exceed

Affirming that this treaty is not intended to prejudice the security interests of any state,

Reaffirming their commitment to continue the conventional arms control process, including negotiations, taking into account future needs for European stability and security in the light of political developments in Europe,

have agreed as follows:

Arms restrictions

The participating states are primarily obliged to ensure that the number of weapons and equipment limited by the treaty in the area of ​​application of the treaty falls
into the categories:

does not exceed specified maximum limits.

The maximum share limits set in the contract also apply

Since the agreed maximum share limits were clearly exceeded at the beginning of the 1990s, the contractual partners were obliged to destroy all surplus equipment within 40 months after the contract came into force, the so-called "reduction phase".

In the course of this reduction phase, around 51,000 weapon systems were destroyed according to established procedures. These reductions were verified by accompanying inspections.

A-KSE 1999

The A-CFE Agreement of November 19, 1999, which was negotiated in Istanbul , is intended to replace the bloc-related military equilibrium established in the CFE Treaty. The replacement of this east-west balance by a European system of (sub-) regional stability means:

  • Overcoming the (contract) group principle
  • Task of the regional principle in the area of ​​application
  • Setting national and territorial ceilings
  • Creation of flexibility mechanisms for military exercises and crisis situations
  • Opening to new members
  • Improvement / consolidation of the information and verification regime

In 2004 four successor states of the Soviet Union - Russia , Belarus , Kazakhstan and Ukraine - ratified this modified CFE treaty. In contrast, the NATO countries have not yet ratified the treaty. The reason given is Russia's non-fulfillment of the so-called “Istanbul Commitments” - timing of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia and withdrawal of Russian troops and material / ammunition from Moldova - Transnistria . However, this is not legally linked to the CFE contract. Rather, the link was decided unilaterally by NATO in Florence in 2000 in protest against the Second Chechen War led by Russia . Around 500 soldiers are stationed in Moldova to guard a very large depot that cannot be left unattended. In the West, too, political commentators consider the non-ratification of the adapted CFE Treaty by NATO with reference to Russian troops in Transnistria neither legally justifiable nor politically proportionate.

Germany seems to be ready to re-declare the Russian troops in Georgia and Moldova as peacekeeping troops, so that Russia would in this way have sufficiently fulfilled its obligations according to NATO reading. The USA, however, demanded that all soldiers be withdrawn beforehand and saw no need to negotiate new arms control agreements with Russia. For the Baltic states, joining the CFE Treaty would bring military restrictions, as reinforcements from other NATO states might have to be limited. By questioning the CFE treaty as a whole, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the cardinal question of whether Europe works with or against Russia and initiated a trial of strength to negotiate on an equal footing with the USA.

On April 26, 2007, Vladimir Putin put the suspension of the treaty by the Russian parliament up for debate. He justified this with the fact that some of the newly added NATO states, namely Slovakia and the Baltic states , had not acceded to the treaty. According to him, Russia has so far only fulfilled the CFE Treaty unilaterally. However, this statement contradicts the actual military potential of Russia in comparison to the proposed upper armament limits. While the modified CFE treaty for Russia z. For example, if there is an upper limit for battle tanks of a maximum of 6,350 units (of which 5,575 in active units), the Russian armed forces had more than 6,700 battle tanks in service in 2008, but outside of the European part.

Regardless of this, Putin made his announcement a short time later and froze the contract. The background to this conflict was the planned establishment of an American anti-missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland. The US missile defense plans affect Moscow's nuclear deterrent. In the long term, Russia fears that it will lose its ability to act as a deterrent. From the Russian point of view, Washington has broken a promise to the Russians with the planned missile defense and radar systems, which also cover large Russian areas, that “there will be no permanent stationing of strategically relevant weapons potentials in the new NATO member states.” At the G8 summit in Heiligendamm At the beginning of June 2007, Vladimir Putin proposed a joint NATO-Russia project in Azerbaijan as a compromise solution ( Qəbələ radar station ), then a joint radar station in Russia, but further talks remained in Kennebunkport on the occasion of an invitation from the Bush family on this topic and others like Kosovo and Iran . As a result, Russia suspended the CFE treaty on July 14, 2007. The reason given was “extraordinary circumstances” which required “immediate action” to protect Russia's security.

The reasons for this were:

  • Exceeding the amount of conventional armaments of the new NATO members who had signed the treaty.
  • Failure to comply with the agreements signed in Istanbul in 1999 on the modified CFE treaty, which regulates the military balance related to the bloc.
  • Refusal of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia), which have been NATO members since 2004, to sign the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. This created a territory on the western border of Russia in which unregulated and uncontrolled troops can be stationed, for example from the USA or other NATO member states.
  • The US plans to station its military bases in the new NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.

"We approach this treaty with the utmost honesty and only claim what it was for which it was concluded: the same security," declared the Russian Foreign Minister.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, "the principle of balanced security was undermined with the dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty organization while maintaining and expanding NATO."

Because of the dispute over US missile defense in Eastern Europe, Russian President Putin announced the suspension of the CFE Treaty on July 14, 2007.

On June 12, 2007 a special conference on this treaty called for by Russia began in the Vienna Hofburg , which ended after 4 days with no result. Anatoly Antonov intended to achieve rapid ratification of the treaty by NATO and changes due to the new geopolitical constellation. The US missile shield is not part of this conference, according to Antonov. This will be discussed on another level.

Alexander Konovalov, head of the Institute for Strategic Estimates and Analyzes, stated: “I don't think we have to keep up with all of NATO. It must be understood that, as a result of Europe's political configuration, we are unable to keep up with NATO as a whole in terms of the amount of conventional armaments. That would be technically stupid, economically insane, and politically unnecessary. After all, we are talking about a partnership with Allianz all the time. ”“ The adapted CFE contract offers the possibility of checking whether larger associations may form outside our borders, ”says the expert. "This will remove concerns about the security of our western borders."

Suspension of obligations from the CFE contract 2007

On December 12, 2007, the Russian Federation notified the other 29 participating states of the unilateral suspension of the application of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and the obligations associated with it. A corresponding declaration was also given to the 'Forum for Security Co-operation' (FSK). In plain English, this means that the Russian Federation

  • on December 15, 2007 did not hand over any information exchange about their conventional forces
  • no notifications sent about
    • Changes in the structure of the armed forces and
    • Changes of ten percent or more in any of the categories of conventional weapons and equipment and limited by the treaty
  • neither permits nor will conduct inspections by the armed forces.

In addition, for the duration of the suspension of the treaty, Russia does not feel bound by the limits on the number of conventional weapons. However, one does not intend to "massively increase them or concentrate them on the borders with our neighbors."

According to the Russian view, “the treaty that was signed during the“ Cold War ”... no longer corresponds to current European reality and our security interests to continue its application. "

Termination of the contract by Russia in 2015

On March 11, 2015, the contract was officially terminated by the Russian Federation after the USA announced that it would temporarily move around 3,000 US soldiers to the Baltic States for a maneuver. As a result of the Russian military operations in Ukraine , the USA had already delivered hundreds of combat vehicles that were to be left to the Baltic states after the exercises in order to strengthen the Baltic armies, which were clearly inferior to Russia.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hannes Adomeit : Russian military and security policy in: Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder (Ed.), Country Report Russia , Federal Center for Political Education, Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-8389-0066-7 , p. 270
  2. ^ Moscow's CFE withdrawal - one less dialogue forum , Deutsche Welle , March 11, 2015
  3. ↑ Draft of a law to the document of May 31, 1996 amending the Treaty of November 19, 1990 on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (Flank Agreement) (PDF; 653 kB)
  4. ^ Deutsche Welle: Putin puts disarmament treaty on hold , July 14, 2007.
  5. ^ Der Tagesspiegel: Das Wort zur Tat ( Memento from May 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), July 14, 2007.
  6. ^ Gerhard Mangott: Arms control between NATO and Russia in the crisis , Deutsche Welle , December 13, 2007.
  7. ^ Ottfried Nassauer: Putin and conventional arms control , published on the BITS website, Berlin, May 5, 2007.
  8. ↑ BBC News (as of August 11, 2008)
  9. ^ Annual message: Putin threatens to suspend CFE contract , RIA Novosti , April 26, 2007.
  10. ↑ Tagesschau: Putin suspends arms control treaty (tagesschau.de archive), April 26, 2007.
  11. ↑ Ottfried Nassauer: Putin's Last Battle , published on the BITS website, Berlin, June 8, 2007.
  12. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: " Putin proposes a common military base to Bush " ( Memento from May 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), June 7, 2007.
  13. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Putin proposes joint missile defense to Bush , July 2, 2007.
  14. ↑ Focus: Top meeting: Bush is waiting for Putin in Kennebunkport , July 1, 2007.
  15. ↑ tagesschau.de: Putin suspends CFE contract (tagesschau.de archive), July 14, 2007.
  16. ↑ RIA Novosti: Russia adheres to CFE treaty when all NATO countries are ratified , June 22, 2007.
  17. ↑ Tagesschau: Putin suspends CFE contract (tagesschau.de archive), July 14, 2007.
  18. ↑ RIA Novost: Special Conference on the CFE treaty begins in Vienna , June 12 of 2007.
  19. ↑ Hans Voss: CFE contract further in the crisis published on June 18, 1997 in Neues Deutschland (quoted on the website of the AG Friedensforschung at the University of Kassel).
  20. ↑ Ö1 Inforadio: KSE conference in Vienna begins  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 12, 2007.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / oe1.orf.at  
  21. ↑ Russia needs CFE treaty (RIA Novosti, July 14, 2007)
  22. ↑ OSCE, FSK: Declaration by the Russian Federation of December 12, 2007
  23. ↑ n-tv.de: Russia withdraws from the CFE contract , March 11, 2015
  24. ↑ US tanks are supposed to deter Russia in the Baltic States . In: Welt Online . March 9, 2015 ( welt.de [accessed August 3, 2016]).
  25. ↑ Sueddeutsche.de: Nato - Conflicts: Tighter tone between Moscow and the West ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  26. ↑ agencies / brut; lin: USA sends 3,000 soldiers to maneuvers in the Baltic States. In: Swiss Radio and Television (SRF). March 10, 2015, accessed August 3, 2016 .