Extraordinary Conference of States Parties to CFE Treaty opens in Vienna

VIENNA, 12 June 2007 - The 30 States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty), began a meeting in Vienna today.

This follows a request by the Russian Federation that an Extraordinary Conference be held.

The conference, chaired by Luxembourg, is expected to last until the end of the week, but could be extended.

It is not open to the press.

The CFE Treaty was signed in Paris in November 1990 and entered into force in 1992. It provides for significant cuts in the conventional military arsenals of NATO and former Warsaw Pact States. Since it entered into force, more than 60,000 battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft and attack helicopters have been taken out of service.

Although not an OSCE document or event, the CFE Treaty was negotiated in parallel with talks among participating States of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe - the OSCE forerunner - on confidence-building measures.

For background on the CFE Treaty and Article XXI, under which the Russian Federation called the meeting, please see Extraordinary Conference of the States Parties to the CFE Treaty, Vienna, 12-15 June 2007