Text: State Dept.'s Boucher on Open Skies Treaty

The Treaty on Open Skies has entered into force almost 10 years after
being signed by 27 countries including the United States.

In a January 9 statement, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
said that the treaty came into force January 1, 2002, after Russia and
Belarus had ratified it early last year.

The treaty has established a regime for the management of observation
flights over the signatory countries.

Boucher said it "will promote transparency and cooperation among its
26 parties." The 27th participant -- Kyrgyzstan -- has signed the
treaty but has not ratified it yet.

Although the security environment in Europe has changed since the
agreement was signed, he said, the treaty is likely to be a "useful
element of the European security framework."

Following is text of the Boucher's statement:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

January 9, 2001

STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN

Treaty on Open Skies Enters into Force

The Treaty on Open Skies, which will promote transparency and
cooperation among its 26 parties, entered into force on January 1,
2002.

The original concept for the Treaty -- mutual and cooperative aerial
observation -- was proposed by President Eisenhower in 1955, and the
Treaty itself was an initiative of former President Bush in 1989. The
Treaty was negotiated between the members of NATO and of the former
Warsaw Pact, with the latter dissolving during the course of the
talks. The Treaty was signed in Helsinki, Finland, on March 24, 1992,
and elements have been applied provisionally since then. Most
signatories ratified the Treaty soon after signature (the United
States ratified in 1993), but two states whose ratification was
required for entry into force -- Belarus and Russia -- did not do so
until early last year, leading to its entry into force now.

Although the European security environment has changed significantly
since the Treaty on Open Skies was negotiated and signed, the Treaty
is still expected to be a useful element of the European security
framework, which includes the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in
Europe and the Vienna Document 1999 agreement on confidence -- and
security-building measures (CSBMs). The Treaty on Open Skies provides
a means of further increasing transparency, mutual understanding, and
cooperation, among its parties.

The following states have signed and ratified the Open Skies Treaty:
Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France,
Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, the Slovak
Republic, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United
States. (Kyrgyzstan has signed but not ratified.)

Sources