The original Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was negotiated and concluded during the last years of the Cold War and established comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe (from the Atlantic to the Urals) and mandated the destruction of excess weaponry. The treaty proposed equal limits for the two "groups of states-parties", NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
History
In 1972, US president Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev reached a compromise agreement to hold separate political and military negotiations. Several months later, on June 27, NATO presented a draft mandate during the 23-nation conference in Vienna. The mandate called for elimination of force disparities, capability for surprise attack, and large-scale offensive operations, and the establishment of an effective verification system. Meanwhile, in December the INF Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union was signed, effectively allowing mutual inspections. During the May-June 1988 Moscow Summit, US President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev emphasized the importance of stability and security in Europe, specifically calling for data exchange, verification of these data, and then reductions. In December Gorbachev announced at the United Nations a unilateral withdrawal of 50,000 troops from Eastern Europe, and demobilization of 500,000 Soviet troops.
Background
In January 1989, NATO and the Warsaw Pact members produced the Mandate for the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. The mandate set out objectives for the CFE Treaty and established negotiating principles, and formal negotiations began on March 9, 1989 in Vienna. When US President George H.W. Bush and France's President François Mitterrand met in May, Bush announced the acceptance of reductions of combat aircraft and helicopters. He also proposed a ceiling of 275,000 personnel stationed in Europe by the US and Soviet Union. Bush's proposal was formally adopted during the 1989 Brussels NATO summit and subsequently presented in Vienna. In November the Berlin Wall fell and in the following months revolutions broke out in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. Bush and Gorbachev agreed to speed up arms control and economic negotiations. Bush proposed even steeper reductions, and the Soviet Union negotiated and concluded troop withdrawal agreements with Warsaw Pact states.
CFE negotiations
StatusThe Treaty was signed in Paris on November 19, 1990 by 22 states. These were divided into two groups:
the then-16 NATO members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States.
the then-six Warsaw Pact states: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union Signed
In 1991 the USSR and the Warsaw pact dissolved and Czechoslovakia was in the middle of splitting into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which explains why the treaty was ratified by 30 rather than 22 states: Russia notified other signatories of its intended suspension of the CFE on July 14, 2007.
the then-16 NATO members
the eight former USSR republics which have territory west of the Urals and the other six former Warsaw pact members. These former USSR republics include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine. The six Warsaw pact members include: Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania. The former non-USSR Warsaw pact members (but Albania) and the three Baltic states became NATO members in 1999 or 2004. In 1994 several former USSR republics formed the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). As of 2006 the following countries are CSTO members: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia and Uzbekistan. Ratification
Content
The CFE Treaty sets equal ceilings for each bloc (NATO and the Warsaw pact), from the Atlantic to the Urals, on key armaments essential for conducting surprise attacks and initiating large-scale offensive operations. Collectively, the treaty participants have agreed that neither side may have more than:
20,000 tanks;
20,000 artillery pieces;
30,000 armored combat vehicles (ACVs);
6,800 combat aircraft; and
2,000 attack helicopters.
16,500 tanks;
17,000 artillery pieces; and
27,300 armored combat vehicles (ACVs);
13,300 tanks;
13,700 artillery pieces;
20,000 armored combat vehicles (ACVs);
5,150 combat aircraft; and
1,500 attack helicopters. Troop ceilings
In addition to limits on the number of armaments in each category on each side, the treaty includes regional limits to prevent destabilizing force concentrations of ground equipment.
Regional arrangements
In order to meet the required troop ceilings equipment had to be destroyed or, if possible, converted to non-military purposes.
Destruction
The treaty included unprecedented provisions for detailed information exchanges, on-site inspections, challenge inspections, and on-site monitoring of destruction. Treaty parties received an unlimited right to monitor the process of destruction.
Verification
Finally, the Treaty established in Vienna a body composed of all Treaty members, called the Joint Consultative Group (JCG),
resolve ambiguities and differences in interpretation;
consider measures which can enhance the Treaty's viability and effectiveness;
resolve technical questions;
look into disputes that may arise from the Treaty's implementation. Joint Consultative Group
After the treaty entered into force, a 4-month baseline inspection period began. Twenty-five percent of the destruction had to be completed by the end of 1 year, 60% by the end of 2 years, and all destruction required by the treaty completed by the end of 3 years.
The principal accomplishment was the large-scale reduction or destruction of conventional military equipment in the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains (ATTU) region during the first 5 years the Treaty was in effect.
Implementation
Compliance problems
The US plans to create bases in Romania and Bulgaria would according to Russia constitute a breach of the treaty. NATO officials dispute this and say that the US bases are not intended as permanent and thus cannot be seen as a breach, but the agreements signed with both Romania and Bulgaria in 2006 specifically allow for permanent bases under direct American control and The Washington Times also obtained the confirmation of a senior US official that the facilities are intended to be permanent.
NATO
A June 1998 Clinton administration report stated that Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan were not in compliance with the CFE treaty. soil. While Russia partially withdrew troops and equipment from Georgia and Moldova, it did not do so completely as demanded by NATO. The linkage between the ratification of the adapted treaty and the complete withdrawal has no legal basis, but is rather a political decision made by NATO members.
Former USSR Republics
Follow-up agreements
CFE-1A negotiations began shortly after the original CFE Treaty was signed in 1990. The commitment was that all signatories of the CFE Treaty have undertaken steps to improve further confidence and security in the ATTU region. CFE-1A commits the 30 members of the treaty to establish manpower limits and, if necessary, to reduce the existing manpower levels within the CFE area of application to reach these limits. The United States is limited under this commitment to have no more than 250,000 troops in the area of application. As an additional source of security assurance, the CFE -1A agreement requires the parties to provide advanced notification of increases made to the force levels. The compliance with the CFE-1A agreement by a member is evaluated during on-site inspections conducted under the CFE Treaty.
Concluding Act of the Negotiation on Personnel Strength of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE-1A)
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