14. Conventional arms control

Summary

Talks on the adaptation of the 1990 Treaty on
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (the CFE Treaty) were deadlocked by
controversy in 1998. Neither the adapted treaty nor the planned
revisions of the Vienna Document 1994 of the Negotiations on
Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in Europe were achieved.
Only in early 1999 was headway made towards drafting an adapted CFE
Treaty. A new deadline for both agreements was set for the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) summit meeting in
Istanbul in November 1999. The entry into force of the 1992 Open Skies
Treaty remained stalemated. 

On the
regional level within Europe the successful implementation of the 1996
Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control (the Florence Agreement) was in
contrast to the lack of progress in other fields. Efforts to get talks
under way on a regional military balance for the Balkans have resulted
in an agreement on the mandate for negotiations on regional
stabilization, but because of the conflict in Kosovo no negotiations
are in sight. 

Outside Europe,
developments showed a mixed record of arms control-related endeavours,
with encouraging developments in South-East Asia and Latin America.

Appendix 14A. Confidence- and security-building measures in Europe

ZDZISLAW LACHOWSKI AND PIA KRONESTEDT

Summary

The OSCE continued the implementation of and work on confidence- and
security-building measures (CSBMs) on the pan-European and regional
levels in 1998. Adaptations suggested for the Vienna Document in 1998
aim at enhancing transparency, predictability and cooperation, and put
emphasis on deeper security cooperation suited to regional differences.
Successful compliance was reported with the 1996 Agreement on
Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
in contrast to the mixed record of implementation of the civilian
provisions of the Dayton Agreement. 

Appendix 14B. The ban on anti-personnel mines
ZDZISLAW LACHOWSKI

Summary

Progress towards a total ban on landmines was made in
1998. Although none of its major opponents had signed the 1997
Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and
Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (the APM
Convention), with the required 40 ratifications achieved in September
the convention entered into force on 1 March 1999. The Landmine
Monitor, a civil society-based global monitoring network, got off to a
promising start with the aim of reporting on all activities related to
the implementation of a total ban. The entry into force in December
1998 of the 1996 amended Protocol II and Protocol IV to the CCW
Convention strengthened efforts to eliminate inhumane weapons.

Appendix 14C. North Atlantic Council statement on CFE