Arms Control Issues

On 21 August, the representatives of the Belarusian and Polish armed forces finished the meeting dedicated to implementing the Agreement on Additional Confidence and Security-Building Measures between Belarus and Poland.

The Belarusian delegation was headed by Col. Yuri Chernukha, chief of the National Agency for Control and Inspections, Defence Ministry department. The Polish delegation was headed by Col. Robert Cepko, head of the Disarmament Division, International Security Policy Department, Poland’s Ministry of National Defence.

The parties considered implementation of the Agreement in 2013, as well as ways of improving additional confidence and security-building measures envisaged by the Agreement.

The parties noted that inspections of specified areas and evaluation visits to military units conducted by Belarus and Poland in 2013 confirmed the implementation of the Agreement and the 2011 Vienna Document by the two countries.

The delegations agreed to take into account the decisions of the OSCE Forum on Security Cooperation, which were made within the updating of the Vienna Document, in organising and conducting inspection activities, as well as to comply with the bilateral recommendations worked out during previous meetings and aimed at improving the practical implementation of the Arrangement.

The parties discussed bilateral arms control cooperation in 2015, as well as considered the mutual informing about large-scale military activities planned to be conducted in 2015 in the areas where the Agreement is applied.