Belarus suspends treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a law suspending the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), according to a document published on the government’s legal information website.

“The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe of 19 November 1990 is hereby repealed,” says the law passed by the Belarusian upper house of parliament in early May.

In early April, the press service of the Belarusian president said that the head of state had given the green light to submit to the Chamber of Representatives a bill to suspend the country’s participation in the CFE Treaty, which Minsk signed in 1992. According to the press service, Belarus has fully fulfilled its obligations under the treaty, while the Czech Republic in 2022 and Poland in 2023 decided to suspend the CFE Treaty with Belarus, after which Minsk initiated appropriate retaliatory measures against these two countries in October 2023. In addition, in November 2023, NATO countries decided to suspend their participation in the treaty indefinitely, which, according to Belarus, essentially amounts to a suspension of the treaty itself.

The press service of the Belarusian president stated that the bill “provides for the suspension of the CFE Treaty, but this does not mean that Belarus will withdraw from this treaty or stop the military implementation of internal procedures based on the treaty.” The Belarusian Defense Ministry stated that Minsk does not plan to increase the number of military equipment and weapons related to the CFE Treaty in the near future.

News.Az