Germany pulls out of cold war disarmament agreement, and is no longer bound to military restrictions limiting maximum number of combat vehicles.

by SterlingArchers

25 comments

  1. Since 1990, the so-called CFE Treaty was intended to limit conventional armament in Europe. Now Germany is putting the agreement on hold for the time being.

    According to the Foreign Office, Germany is suspending the Disarmament Control Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) concluded in 1990 . A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin said Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty became legally effective on Tuesday. In doing so, Russia is destroying “another pillar of our European security and arms control architecture,” which was aimed at limiting conventional armament in Europe.

    As a “consequence,” the federal government decided “in close coordination with its allies in NATO” to suspend the CFE Treaty by the Federal Republic of Germany. The ministry emphasized that Germany and its allies would “explicitly not” withdraw from the CFE Treaty. In the event of a fundamental change in Russia’s behavior, a renewed implementation of the CFE Treaty would remain possible.

    The CFE Treaty was concluded in 1990 between the then member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, which was dissolved shortly afterwards. Russia withdrew from the treaty in 2007, but continued its participation in the CFE Advisory Group until 2015.

    NATO said on Tuesday that the decision by individual allies to suspend the treaty “for as long as necessary” was “fully supported” by all NATO member states.

    As a result of the now legally effective Russian withdrawal, the further implementation of the CFE Treaty will lose most of its security policy and arms control policy benefits, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin explained. The central objective of the CFE Treaty, to ensure a balanced force potential for conventional weapons in Europe , cannot be achieved without Russia’s participation.

    The federal government, like its allies in NATO, remains committed to Europe’s security, it said. This also includes one of the central principles of the CFE Treaty, namely effective arms control for the conventional armed forces in Europe.

    Germany is therefore prepared to continue certain measures of the CFE Treaty, such as data exchange, with interested European states, the Foreign Ministry said. In addition, the Federal Government intends to continue to comply with the national upper limits for the weapon systems covered by the CFE Treaty.

    According to the Foreign Office, Germany is suspending the Disarmament Control Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) concluded in 1990 . A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin said Russia’s withdrawal from the CFE Treaty became legally effective on Tuesday. In doing so, Russia is destroying “another pillar of our European security and arms control architecture,” which was aimed at limiting conventional armament in Europe.

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    As a “consequence,” the federal government decided “in close coordination with its allies in NATO” to suspend the CFE Treaty by the Federal Republic of Germany. The ministry emphasized that Germany and its allies would “explicitly not” withdraw from the CFE Treaty. In the event of a fundamental change in Russia’s behavior, a renewed implementation of the CFE Treaty would remain possible.

    The CFE Treaty was concluded in 1990 between the then member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, which was dissolved shortly afterwards. Russia withdrew from the treaty in 2007, but continued its participation in the CFE Advisory Group until 2015.

    NATO said on Tuesday that the decision by individual allies to suspend the treaty “for as long as necessary” was “fully supported” by all NATO member states.

    The CFE Treaty is history.

    Russian Foreign Ministry
    As a result of the now legally effective Russian withdrawal, the further implementation of the CFE Treaty will lose most of its security policy and arms control policy benefits, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin explained. The central objective of the CFE Treaty, to ensure a balanced force potential for conventional weapons in Europe , cannot be achieved without Russia’s participation.

    The federal government, like its allies in NATO, remains committed to Europe’s security, it said. This also includes one of the central principles of the CFE Treaty, namely effective arms control for the conventional armed forces in Europe.

    Germany is therefore prepared to continue certain measures of the CFE Treaty, such as data exchange, with interested European states, the Foreign Ministry said. In addition, the Federal Government intends to continue to comply with the national upper limits for the weapon systems covered by the CFE Treaty.

    The aim of the treaty, which was binding under international law, was to create a secure and stable balance of conventional armed forces in Europe and to eliminate the ability to carry out surprise attacks and large-scale offensive operations. To this end, the number of heavy conventional weapon systems such as battle tanks, artillery systems and combat aircraft as well as personnel levels were limited and an exchange of information with comprehensive reviews was set up.

    According to the Foreign Office, around 60,000 heavy weapon systems were destroyed in the contracting states by the mid-1990s, including battle tanks, artillery systems and combat aircraft . The CFE Treaty therefore made a significant contribution to ending the armament phase in Europe and to military detente after the end of the Cold War.

    A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the CFE Treaty was now “history”. Not all contracts from the Cold War era “stood the test”, but “at the time” they had “a stabilizing function”.

  2. Where is your Archive link through the paywall? This is a pretty lazy post.

  7. I can’t imagine a world with a powerful German army. Almost seems fictional

  9. So is Germany now implemeting the Barbarossa protocol

  12. i would love for Germany to be keen to get back in the game.

  13. Another “win” for ruzzia…. The big kahuna of eurozone just said, “fack it, i’m going john wick like ‘Murica and Poland”…. lol!

  16. Good god damn, did russia wake up the German military industrial complex for the first time in almost a hundred years?

  18. Time to open new tank factories, then let the Ukrainian refugees in Germany work to build the tanks that will free their country!

  19. Hell fucking yeah, bring it on!

    And then the AfD takes over and the world regrets it…

  20. Yes, it was shortly discussed, but no serious attempt had happened since then and I havent heard about it for a long time.

    Scholz refers to statistics made by the official statistics office of germany, but there are also other statistics. All they do, is to guess the future. But if you compare the population growth of the last seven years, I cant explain where rougly 7 million people should come from. I would say it is highly unlikely. Remember, he is still a politician.

  24. If Putin wants East Germany back we are going to see conscription in Europe again.

  25. Just fired my financial advisor because he told me there is no such thing as “short-selling Poland”.

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