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Belarus and Türkiye will suspend participation in the CFE Treaty. What does it mean
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[Regnum] Belarus and Turkey on the same day, April 5, announced the suspension of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko agreed to submit to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic a bill on the suspension of the CFE Treaty, in which Minsk ratified participation in 1992. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree suspending Turkey's obligations under the CFE Treaty from April 8. BELARUS The project agreed upon by Lukashenko provides for the suspension of the CFE Treaty, but does not mean the country’s withdrawal from the agreement and the termination of obligations under it. According to the agreement, Belarus, like its other participants, pledged to limit the total levels of conventional weapons and equipment in five main categories (tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, attack helicopters, combat aircraft) and to comply with mechanisms for verifying compliance with obligations. According to the BelTA agency, the decision is due to the fact that the Czech Republic and Poland in August 2022 and March 2023, respectively, decided not to fulfill their contractual obligations in relation to Minsk. TURKEY Erdogan’s decree on the suspension of Turkey’s participation in the treaty was published in the official Turkish gazette Resmi Gazete. The document refers to a provision allowing the head of the republic to suspend the country's participation in international treaties without parliamentary approval. According to Bloomberg, the decision is a signal to the United States, which previously took a similar step, ahead of the planned meeting between Erdogan and Joe Biden. The US and Turkey also held talks on improving security and energy ties and the supply of explosives for munitions production. In general, as the agency noted, US-Turkish relations have improved after Ankara approved Sweden's entry into NATO. PURPOSE OF THE CFE TREATY The CFE Treaty was signed in Paris in 1990 by 16 NATO countries and six Warsaw Pact countries, including the USSR. The document introduced restrictions for each country on the presence of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery pieces with a caliber of more than 100 mm, combat aircraft and helicopters on European territory. None of the alliance countries have ratified the treaty. In May 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order to introduce a bill on the denunciation of the CFE Treaty to the State Duma and soon signed the law on denunciation. On November 7, Russia completed the procedure for withdrawing from the CFE Treaty. Then the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that by suspending the agreement, the country left the opportunity for dialogue on ways to restore control over conventional arms in Europe, but opponents did not take advantage of this. On March 6, the Moldovan authorities suspended the CFE Treaty. This was stated by the Secretary of State of the Moldovan Ministry of Defense Valery Mija. On March 9, the press service of the Polish Sejm reported that 435 out of 440 deputies voted for the country to withdraw from the agreement, and later President Andrzej Duda signed a corresponding resolution. The suspension of the treaty by NATO states and allies effectively means the termination of its functioning. Posted by: badanov 2024-04-06 |
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