The Hungarian parliament approved on Wednesday a bill aimed at suspending the country’s participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE). Nearly 177 deputies voted in favor of the project, while 5 others opposed it, during a vote broadcast on the official website of the Hungarian parliament.
Speaking on this occasion, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Péter Sztaray, indicated that the CFE Treaty had played an important role in maintaining the balance of military forces in Europe, noting however that the latter “has lost its importance”.
The move is part of a broader move by NATO to suspend the operation of the CFE Treaty, in response to Russia’s decision to withdraw from it last year. Originally signed in 1990 by then-NATO members and the six Warsaw Treaty states, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe entered into force in 1992 and aimed to establish a balance between the two military alliances by setting limits on the quantities of weapons and military equipment that all parties were permitted to accumulate. Last November, Russia announced that it was unilaterally withdrawing from the Treaty, claiming that NATO’s eastward expansion had rendered it obsolete.
NATO condemned Russia’s decision and announced in response that its member states intended to suspend the implementation of the treaty. On March 29, Poland also suspended its participation in the treaty, following in the footsteps of other countries such as Norway.