On March 1-4 a member of Arms Control Division of the Joint Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces will conduct a verification visit in Kazakhstan in composition of U.S.-led inspection team. The team will evaluate the conformity of activities of the 37th Air Assault Brigade based in Taldykorgan with Vienna Document 2011.
The international arms control inspection team will be briefed by the Brigade Commander on the number of personnel serving in the unit types and amount of major weaponry and combat equipment systems, and inspect representative items. The inspectors will also familiarise with daily routine of the unit based in the town of Taldykorgan, visit its main subunits and communicate with their personnel.
After the visit the arms control inspectors will draw up a report on the basis of the Vienna Document 2011 regulations on the compliance with international arms control treaties seen during the evaluation visit. The report will distributed to all members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The Vienna Document binds OSCE states to annually provide information about their armed forces, plans of developing defence capabilities and defence budget, and notify in advance about planned military activities. Parties to the agreement also commit to accept a set number of inspections from other countries in their territory per year.
According to the Vienna Document 2011 of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, each OSCE state party holds a right to verify if another state party does not undertake illicit military activities requiring prior notification, and does not maintain undeclared military capabilities.
Representatives of the Lithuanian Forces have already conducted verification visits to the Russian Federation this year. The most recent inspection in Kazakhstan took place in 2014.
Photo from the archive of the Arms Control Division, Lithuanian Armed Forces
