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Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) [1]

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Date: 2023-06

Links & Downloads Treaty Text

Treaty Overview

*On 14 July 2007, Russia announced that it would suspend implementation of its Treaty obligations, effective after 150 days. Background In 1973, the Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction Talks (MBFR) opened in Vienna between the United States, the USSR, and other NATO and Warsaw Pact members. The goal was to reach an agreement on the reduction of troops and armaments in Central Europe, including the Benelux countries, East Germany, West Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. The sides reached a preliminary agreement to reduce the number of ground troops to 700,000 on each side, and air force troops to 200,000. In the end, the talks did not come to fruition. In April-June 1986, the USSR and the Warsaw Pact called for Europe-wide reductions, and in December 1986, NATO proposed to establish a new negotiating forum that would supersede the MBFR and discuss new Europe-wide reductions. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) meeting in Vienna (1986-1989) endorsed a mandate for negotiations on the level of conventional armed forces in Europe within the framework of the CSCE among the 23 participating States belonging to NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO). On 10 January 1989, NATO and the Warsaw Pact initialed a mandate on negotiations on conventional forces in Europe (CFE). On 2 February 1989, the MBFR talks were formally concluded, and on 9 March 1989, the CFE negotiations began. On 19 November 1990, the CFE Treaty was signed in Paris. The main objective of the Treaty was to reduce the possibility of a surprise armed attack and the triggering of major offensive operations in Europe. On 15 May 1992, the States Parties signed the Tashkent Agreement on the Principles and Procedures for the Implementation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which redistributed the former USSR’s equipment and strength targets among the signatories. Review Conference The Treaty provides for the convening of a review conference 46 months after its entry into force and at five-year intervals thereafter.

Treaty Obligations

Main Provisions Article IV (paragraph 1) of the Treaty established equal limitations on major armaments for NATO and the Warsaw Pact, including: 20,000 battle tanks (no more than 16,500 in active units),

30,000 armored combat vehicles (no more than 27,300 in active units), of which no more than 18,000 shall be armored infantry fighting vehicles and heavy armament combat vehicles, of which no more than 1,500 shall be heavy armament combat vehicles,

20,000 artillery pieces (17,000 in active units),

6,800 combat aircrafts, and

2,000 attack helicopters. (Article IV, Paragraph 1) The CFE Treaty also provided for weapons systems not in active units to be placed in designated permanent storage sites (Article IV, paragraph 1). In addition, it required that no single State Party possess more than approximately one-third of the armaments within the area of application (Article VI), defined as “entire land territory of the States Parties in Europe from Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains, including all the European island territories of the States Parties.” Within this overall area of application, the Treaty established sub-areas where the permitted numbers of armaments were subject to specific limitations (Articles IV and V). Such sub-zones, located at the northern and southern extremes of the area of application, where the two blocks came into contact, were subject to specific flank limits in order to substantially reduce the possibility of an encircling maneuver. Article VII of the Treaty obligated each State Party to provide, upon signature, notification to all other States Parties of the maximum levels of their holdings of armaments and equipment subject to the Treaty’s limitations. Each State Party is entitled to change the maximum levels of such holdings with 90-day advance notice, provided that the total number of armaments and equipment assigned to the same “group of States Parties” (NATO or Warsaw Pact) does not exceed the limitations set by the Treaty. Article VIII obligated the States Parties to achieve the Treaty limitations by means of reduction executed in three phases and completed no later than 40 months after entry into force of the Treaty. In addition, it required States to notify all other States Parties of the locations of its reduction sites. The reduction process include destroying weapons, converting them to non-military purposes, placing them on static display, using them as ground targets, decommissioning them, etc., and shall be subject to inspections, without right of refusal. According to Article X, all armaments and equipment not in active units shall be kept in designated permanent storage sites. A State Party shall notify other States Parties about the location and content of such designated permanent storage sites. Under Article VI, the Treaty established the Joint Consultative Group (JCG) in charge of dealing with the issues of compliance with the Treaty. This group’s tasks include resolution of ambiguities and differences in interpretation, consideration of measures to enhance the viability and effectiveness of the Treaty, resolution of technical matters, and consideration of disputes arising out of the implementation of the Treaty.

Verification and Compliance

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[1] Url: https://www.nti.org/education-center/treaties-and-regimes/treaty-conventional-armed-forces-europe-cfe/

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