CIAO DATE: 03/03

The Adapted CFE Treaty and the Admission of the Baltic States to NATO

Abstract

The CFE Treaty is by far the most ambitious arms control agreement on conventional arms, and it is commonly considered a cornerstone of European security and military stability. The treaty entered into force in 1992, and its main purpose – carrying out deep cuts in heavy weapons – was basically achieved by the end of 1995. The removal of over 63 000 pieces of treaty - limited armaments and equipment (TLE) within and outside the area of application, the ATTU area, helped to improve the political situation, enhance the sense of security and stability and, through verification, promote transparency and mutual confidence in Europe – particularly between Russia and NATO. The conclusion of the CFE Treaty also had the positive effect of moving arms control to a lower position on the list of post-cold war European security priorities.

The signatories of the treaty soon realized that the accord had been overtaken by the dramatic political events of the late 1980s and the early 1990s, including the dissolution of the WTO. However,the need remained to eliminate thousands of heavy weapon items, which could potentially destabilize the new security system in statu nascendi. The process of arms reductions was accompanied by the difficult transformation of politico-military relations in Europe as a result of the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia,the Balkan wars, the withdrawal of former Soviet troops and the growing security problems on Russia’s southern rim, which led to the outbreak of hostilities in Chechnya in late 1994. This affected the implementation of the treaty, leading to its gradual adaptation to the changed situation. Six months after the completion of the reductions, the parties to the CFE Treaty agreed the so-called 1996 Flank Document, which provisionally amended the relevant provisions of the treaty, addressing some of the concerns expressed by Russia and Ukraine. It reorganized the flank areas geographically and numerically, allowing both countries to deploy more TLE along their borders. In 1997 talks began on adaptation (but not revision) of the CFE Treaty. At the same time, NATO assured Russia, through political declarations, that it would not deploy nuclear weapons or substantial conventional weapons on the territory of its new members in peacetime. The adaptation negotiations took longer than expected but managed to survive the harsh tests of the first wave of NATO enlargement, NATO’s intervention in Yugoslavia and Russia’s violation of CFE provisions in Chechnya, all of which occurred in 1999. The negotiations produced the Agreement on Adaptation of the CFE Treaty, which was signed in November 1999. Although it now has been partially implemented, the Agreement on Adaptation has not yet entered into force.

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