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Disarmament DiplomacyIssue No. 13, February - March 1997CFE review: NATO Cards on The TableIn Vienna on 20 February, NATO tabled proposals for amending the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty - see Documents and Sources for details.Although press reports were scanty, Michael Guhin, Deputy Assistant Director for Multilateral Affairs at the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), gave his assessment of the nature and intention of the proposals during a 20 February briefing in Washington. Vowing "we will never scrap this treaty," Guhin said the proposals were designed to assure Russia that "NATO will not take advantage of its extension." Reportedly, NATO wants to rule out any increase of ground equipment in a CFE region consisting of Belarus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, and Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave in the Baltic. Guhin concluded: "CFE is one mechanism by which the United States and NATO allies can help provide Russia with greater confidence that NATO expansion is not a threat." Report: CFE Treaty is key to European security, ACDA official says, United States Information Agency, 20 February. © 1998 The Acronym Institute. |