Vienna Document: Difference between revisions

The Vienna Document was updated in 1992, 1994,1999 and 1999 with active Russian participation2011.<ref name="Shakirov_future_of_Vienna_document" /><ref name="USDeptState_ACIS" />

Updates to the Vienna Document proposed around 2016 include lowering the threshold for prior notification of military activities, risk reduction (Chapter III) proposals, additional or stronger inspections, independent fact-finding missions, and creating a centralised [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] database on OSCE participating states' main weapons systems.<ref name="Shakirov_future_of_Vienna_document" /><ref name="Zellner_Addressing_the_threat" /> Forty-three of the OSCE particpatingparticipating states declared after the December 2020 meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council declaredthat their intention was to "enhance reciprocal military transparency and predictability and reduc[e] risk by updating the Vienna document".<ref name="OSCE_Dec2020statement" />

The annual exchanges of military information (Chapter I in Vienna Document 2011) take place in Vienna in December.<ref name="OSCE_VD1999" /> Until 2015, when Russia completely stopped participating in the [[Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe]] (CFE), CFE and Vienna Document military information exchange was done together at the December Vienna meetings.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} As of the 15 February 2022 emergency Vienna Document meeting called by Ukraine during the [[2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis]] after Russia failed to respond to Ukraine's request to give details about the Russian military buildup around Ukraine, less than 11 emergency Vienna Document meetings had been held.<ref name="WION_RU_skips_OSCE_meeting" />

=== 2020s ===

In November and December 2021, during the [[2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis]], Russian military officers made a Vienna Document 2011 visit to Latvia to inspect Latvian military forces.<ref name="LVMOD_RU_declines_OSCE_inspection" /> In January 2022, a pre-planned 24–29 January arms inspection by Latvian military officers to the [[Bryansk]] and [[Smolensk]] regions of Russia, again under the Vienna Document 2011, was refused by Russian authorities, who stated the reason as [[COVID-19 pandemic]] restrictions. The Latvian Ministry of Defence commented that the pandemic had not prevented the holding of the exercise.<ref name="Euractiv_LV_accuses_RU_pretext" /> The Defence Minister, [[Artis Pabriks]], described the Russian reason for refusal as<ref name="LVMOD_RU_declines_OSCE_inspection" /><blockquote>"a poor excuse" that "raise[d] suspicions that Russia want[ed] to hide something by not disclosing the actual scope and intent of its military movements as required by [the] OSCE cooperation framework".<ref name="LVMOD_RU_declines_OSCE_inspection" /></blockquote>On 10 February 2022, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania invoked the Vienna Document 2011, requesting information from Belarus on "the total number of troops, battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, artillery pieces, mortars and rocket launchers, envisaged sorties per aircraft, and rapid-reaction forces" of the ''[[Union Resolve 2022]]'' military exercise planned for Russian forces during 10–20 February 2022 in Belarus.<ref name="DefenseNews_launch_OSCE_appeal" /> The Russian ambassador to Belarus, [[Boris Gryzlov]], stated in a television interview that the forces involved were below the notification limit, and "therefore there is nothing to worry about".<ref name="Belta_does_not_exceed" /> The Belarusian official response stated that the size of the exercise was under the reporting threshold. Estonian officials described the Belarusian response as "insufficient" and interpreted the response as showing "no interest in transparency and confidence building".<ref name="DefenseNews_UA_joins_Baltic_nations" />

On 11 February 2022, Ukraine invoked Chapter III of the Vienna Document, ''risk reduction'', requesting Russia to provide "detailed explanations on military activities in the areas adjacent to the territory of Ukraine and in the temporarily occupied Crimea."<ref name="InterfaxUA_asks_Russia_to_provide" /> Russia did not respond within the required 48-hour deadline. On 13 February, Ukraine requested an emergency OSCE meeting within 48 hours for Russia to provide a response.<ref name="Ukrinform_UA_requests_OSCE" /> On 14 February, the [[Ministry of Defence (Ukraine)|Ukrainian Defence Minister]] [[Oleksii Reznikov]] and the [[Ministry of Defence (Belarus)|Belarusian Defence Minister]] [[Viktor Khrenin]] agreed on confidence-building and transparency measures for risk reduction. The plan included visits by Reznikov to the Russian–Belarusian ''Allied Resolve 2022'' military exercise and by Khrenin to the Ukrainian ''[[Zametil 2022]]'' military exercise. Reznikov described the agreement as a positive signal.<ref name="MOD_UA_phone_with_MOD_BY" /> On 15 February, the Vienna Document emergency meeting was held for OSCE participant states, as requested by Ukraine. The Russian OSCE representative was absent from the meeting. The US ambassador to the OSCE, [[Michael R. Carpenter]], described the Russian absence as "unfortunat[e] and regrettabl[e]".<ref name="WION_RU_skips_OSCE_meeting" />

<ref name="OSCE_VD2011">{{cite web | title= Vienna Document 2011 – on confidence- and security-building measures | website= [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]] |year = 2011 | url = https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/a/4/86597.pdf | access-date = 2022-02-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220209010342/https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/a/4/86597.pdf |archive-date= 2022-02-09 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="DefenseNews_launch_OSCE_appeal">{{cite news |last1=Sprenger|first1=Sebastian | title= Baltic nations launch OSCE appeal over Russia-Belarus drill | date= 2022-02-10 |newspaper= [[Defense News]] | url= https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/02/09/baltic-nations-launch-osce-appeal-over-russia-belarus-drill |access-date= 2022-02-11 |archive-url= https://archive.today/cSWTI20220210231757/https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/02/09/baltic-nations-launch-osce-appeal-over-russia-belarus-drill/ |archive-date= 2022-02-10 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="DefenseNews_UA_joins_Baltic_nations">{{cite news | last1= Sprenger | first1=Sebastian | title= Ukraine joins Baltic nations in OSCE query of Russian troop movements | date= 2022-02-11 |newspaper= [[Defense News]] | url= https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/02/11/ukraine-joins-baltic-nations-in-osce-query-of-russian-troop-movements |access-date= 2022-02-12 |archive-url= https://archive.today/iLuGu20220212164652/https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2022/02/11/ukraine-joins-baltic-nations-in-osce-query-of-russian-troop-movements/ |archive-date= 2022-02-12 |url-status=live }}</ref>