CFE Emergency Conference Fails
The emergency conference of the signatory states of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty ended in Vienna on Friday. The meeting, which Moscow saw as the last chance to revive the CFE, failed to reach a breakthrough. The parties even failed to ratify the final document. The only thing Moscow can do now is to carry out its threats: first, to suspend implementing the CFE, and second, to finally exit the treaty.
The emergency conference of the signatory states of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, summoned to Vienna on Russia’s initiative, became the first such forum since the treaty’s signing in 1990. All three days, the sessions went behind closed doors. They were devoted to considering Moscow’s suggestions on “saving the CFE”.
The crisis around the CFE exacerbated in April, when Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly that the CFE in its current condition does not meet Russia’s national security interests, and threatened to suspend the treaty’s implementation. The Russian leader believes that the document’s regulations are out of date, while the West does not want to ratify the amended treaty of 1999, setting the condition that Russian peacekeeping troops should be pulled out of Moldova and Georgia.
There could be a chance to save the CFE on June 25th, when NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Sheffer arrives to St. Petersburg. However, at this meeting Russia will be represented by Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov. Therefore, Moscow has already lost faith in the possibility to reach agreement on the CFE with NATO.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 16, 2007
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