CFE Inspection in Ukraine
Szöveg: Lieutenant Colonel Gábor Ács | 2018. május 9. 11:01Between April 23-27 a real-life and a training inspection of objects was conducted in Ukraine by Hungary, and the participating British, Belgian, Italian, American and Polish guest inspectors based on the provisions of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (the CFE Treaty).
The leadership of the inspector team was drawn from the MoD Defence Policy Department, while the rest of the Hungarian inspectors were delegated from among the trained, suitable inspectors working at different organisations. The purpose of the inspections was to verify whether Ukraine observes the provisions of the CFE Treaty, i.e. whether the data disclosed in the annual and infra-annual data exchange corresponds to reality. Ukraine – with regard to the operations underway in the Eastern part of the country – does not provide data for the State Parties about the infra-annual movement of equipment and armament; therefore the on-site inspection gained a greater significance.
The nine-people strong, Hungarian led inspection team conducted inspection at the Zhitomir Artillery Unit. The recently formed sub-unit – similar to the sub-unit of the 128th Mountain Brigade to be located in Beregszász – was placed at an object earlier used as a barrack, which has been empty for more than 15 years. The living and working conditions of the artillery division is now being developed, only the building of the Headquarters provided suitable conditions for work. The personnel of the artillery sub unit accounted for with their technical means during the inspection.
In what follows a training inspection was conducted, which allowed the members of the inspection team and the escort team to practise their skills. As the leadership of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade in Vasilkov designated by the Ukrainian side, regarded our inspection as a real-life task, the Ukrainian inspection team could measure the readiness of the aviation formation for such a type of inspections. The intentionally made mistakes and conflicts allowed the assessment of professional skills and knowledge as well as the enlargement of practical experiences.
When the inspections were finished, the international inspection team visited the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum in Kiev on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. The members of the team were lucky, because the majority of them could speak Russian besides the English, though on different levels, so the inspection gave a favourable opportunity for the use and practice of the Russian language playing a priority role in the inspection of armament.
