The position was adopted in response to Russia's conduct, which contradicts international law, in particular the CFE Treaty. Russia has not been fulfilling its obligations under the CFE Treaty since 2007. In 2022 Russia, with the participation of Belarus, committed another act of flagrant violation of the prohibition of the use of force against Ukraine, also a state party to the CFE Treaty. On 7 November this year Russia formally ceased to be a party to this agreement. Under these conditions, which represent a fundamental change of circumstances comparing to those existing at the time of the conclusion of the CFE Treaty, the Republic of Poland cannot remain obliged to fulfil this agreement.

Poland shall take formal steps to suspend the CFE Treaty indefinitely and in its entirety, in respect to all of its provisions. This means that the Republic of Poland will not be legally or practically obliged to fulfil the provisions of the CFE Treaty, including those relating to limitations for the Polish Armed Forces. Poland has been fulfilling its obligations under the CFE Treaty since 1992, when this agreement came into force, being at that time an important part of the security architecture in Europe. Russia has violated the letter and spirit of the Treaty by failing to implement its provisions for many years, and then by launching an unlawful, unprovoked war.

In this situation, the security interest of the Republic of Poland requires further strengthening of defence and deterrence capabilities through consistent national and allied efforts. At the same time, Poland does not exclude taking further legal steps in the future, including the denunciation of the CFE Treaty due to the denunciation of the CFE Treaty by Russia, shall the security interests of the Republic of Poland require it.

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The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was signed on 19 November 1990 in Paris and entered into force in 1992.The main element of the agreement was the reduction of existing offensive conventional armaments held by NATO and former Warsaw Pact countries (battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, artillery with a calibre of 100 mm and above, combat aircraft and attack helicopters). It was hoped that quantitative limitations on armaments and the provision of detailed information on the capabilities of the armed forces as well as subjecting this information to verification would reduce the possibility of launching a surprise attack and initiating large-scale offensive actions.

 

MFA Press Office