Arms Control Issues

This week will see several arms control events.

From 22 to 25 September, a Spanish inspection group will visit Belarus to verify a specified area under the CFE Treaty.

During the visit, the inspection group will verify a military unit of the Belarusian Armed Forces (at their option), which is subject to control under the CFE Treaty.

The aim of the inspection is to prove that the actual amount of the materiel limited by the treaty corresponds to the declared data.

The inspection group will include five military inspectors from Spain and one inspector from Canada, France, Italy and Slovakia each.

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From 22 to 26 September 2014, two representatives of the Belarusian Armed Forces will visit an airbase and military unit of the UK armed forces. The event is organised for the representatives of the OSCE member states under the 2011 Vienna Document.

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A three-day working meeting between representatives of the Belarusian and Kazakhstani armed forces dedicated to arms control cooperation began in Astana on 23 September.

The Belarusian delegation is headed by Col. Yuri Chernukha, chief of the National Agency for Control and Inspections, Defence Ministry department.

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On 24 September, a Lithuanian inspection group is to conduct an evaluation visit to the 61st Fighter Airbase under the Agreement on Additional Confidence- and Security-Building Measures between Belarus and Lithuania.

The inspection’s aim is to verify the reliability of the information on the personnel and materiel of the verified unit, presented by Belarus to the 2011 Vienna Document member states.