German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left, seen here with German Chancellor Angela Merkel) wants to save the CFE.
Photo: Reuters
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Germany Calls Russia Back to CFE
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed deep concern for the fate of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which Russia intends to withdraw from. Steinmeier, addressing the Bundestag on Wednesday, said that preserving the treaty is in the interests of all of Europe and suggested that a conference on the treaty be held next month.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a moratorium on Russia's participation in the treaty during his address to the Federal Assembly in April of this year, and signed an order ending Russia's activities under the treaty on July 14. The corresponding law was introduced into the State Duma the same month and will be debated there with representatives of the General Staff and Defense Ministry present on September 19.
Moscow is dissatisfied that the new version of the treaty, dating from 1999, has not been ratified by NATO member states, which are tying ratification to Russia's withdrawal of its peacekeeping forces from Georgia and Transdniestria, as Russia agreed to do under the at the 1999 OSCE summit in Istanbul. In addition, Moscow objects to the fact that the Baltic countries are not subject to the CFE at all.
Russia called the first conference on the CFE, which took place in Vienna June 12-15 of this year. That conference did not result even in a concluding document. Russian attempts to discuss the treaty at the OSCE security conference in Vienna on June 19 and 20 were largely ignored. The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed strong support for Steinmeier's suggestion.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 14, 2007
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