Mikalay Charhinets: “Belarus Shouldn’t Hurry to Leave CFE”

Belarus shouldn’t hurry to leave the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE). It has been stated in the conversation with BelTA by the chairman of the Standing Committee on International Affairs and National Security of the “council of republic” Mikalay Charhinets (Cherginets), commenting on Russia’s moratorium in CFE participation that has come into force on December 12 overnight.

“By remaining its participant, Belarus shows its interest in the treaty’s quickest ratification by European partners and strives for the CFE implementation,” Mikalay Charhinets said.

The original Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was signed on November 19, 1990 by 22 states: the then-16 NATO members and the then-six Warsaw Pact states. It set a balance between the two military and political blocs. The Warsaw Pact and the USSR were dissolved, and in 1999 in Istanbul the adapted CFE treaty was signed. The troop ceilings on a bloc-to-bloc basis (NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact) were replaced with a system of national and territorial ceilings. But only four countries have ratified the adapted treaty: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.