Press Release (97)15 7 February 1997

7th VCC Seminar with Cooperation Partners on Implementation of Conventional Arms Control Agreements From 5th to 7th February, at the NATO Headquarters, NATO's Verification Coordinating Committee (VCC) hosted its 7th Seminar with Cooperation Partners on cooperation in the verification and implementation of conventional arms control agreements, to include the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty) and the Vienna Document 94. In addition to the sixteen NATO member nations, representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence and heads of national verification organizations from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia and Ukraine participated. The 7th Seminar with Partners was the latest in a series of joint seminars and workshops to assess the results of the Programme of Enhanced Cooperation initiated by NATO in January 1993. This Programme, designed to enhance cooperative approaches to implementing conventional arms control agreements, includes four areas of special relevance to the CFE Treaty: joint inspections of declared sites; joint inspections of reductions; joint training courses; and sharing of information stored in NATO's verification data base VERITY. This Seminar was the first to be convened after the First CFE Review Conference in May 1996 and at the beginning/start of the second year of the residual period implementation of that Treaty. It allowed for a comprehensive review of the status of implementation of the conventional arms control treaties in force, resolution of outstanding problems for their practical application and a look ahead at developments and decisions in the months to come which will have a bearing on the way in which arms control treaties and agreements need to be implemented in the future. Furthermore, it provided an opportunity to take note of the results of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The Seminar was opened by the Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Sergio Balanzino. Guest speakers included Ambassadors L. Hansen from the United States, Dr. R. Hartmann from Germany, I. Petrov from Bulgaria and M. Krasznai from Hungary. During the Seminar, two workshops reviewed various issues with a view to further improve implementation procedures and to meet new requirements entailed by the Review Conference. Plenary discussion addressed the ongoing programme of cooperation in arms control implementation and verification, and the way ahead for cooperation. The Seminar was organized and chaired by VICS, which is NATO's coordinating organ for conventional arms control implementation, data management, training and assistance in this field. The overall assistance VICS is providing for the Partners showed once again to be of undiminished importance. It will even grow further commensurate with the adaptation of the CFE Treaty and coming into force of complementary agreements such as the Open Skies Treaty. For further information, please contact NATO's Verification and Implementation Coordination Section (VICS), Political Affairs Division, tel: int'l-32-2-707 44 55 & 707 58 06