Treaty on Open Skies

The 32 state parties to the Open Skies Treaty are Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark (including Greenland), Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Kyrgyzstan signed the treaty but has not yet ratified it. Canada and Hungary are the depositaries of the treaty in recognition of their special contributions to the Open Skies process. Depositary countries maintain treaty documents and provide administrative support. The Open Skies treaty is one of unlimited duration, and is open to accession by other states. Republics of the former Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) that have not already become state parties to the treaty may join it at any time. Applications from other interested countries are subject to a consensus decision by the Open Skies Consultative Commission (OSCC). Eight countries have joined into the treaty since it entered into force in 2002: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Sweden. == Open Skies Consultative Commission ==

The Open Skies Consultative Commission is the implementing body for the Treaty on Open Skies. It comprises representatives from each state party to the treaty and meets monthly at the Vienna headquarters of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. == Summary ==

Territory The Open Skies regulations covers the territory over which the parties exercise sovereignty, including mainland, islands, and internal and territorial waters. The treaty specifies that the entire territory of a member state is open to observation. Observation flights may only be restricted for reasons of flight safety and not for reasons of national security. Sweden uses a Saab 340 aircraft ("OS-100") that was certified in 2004. Until 2008, the U.K. designated aircraft was an Andover C.1(PR) aircraft, registration XS596. Since then the U.K. has used a variety of aircraft including a Saab 340, an An-30, and an OC-135. In 2017, the German Air Force purchased an Airbus A319 as its future Open Skies aircraft. Sensors Open Skies aircraft may have video, optical panoramic, and framing cameras for daylight photography, infrared line scanners for a day/night capability, and synthetic aperture radar for a day/night all weather capability. Photographic image quality will permit recognition of major military equipment (e.g., permit a member state to distinguish between a tank and a truck), thus allowing significant transparency of military forces and activities. Sensor categories may be added and capabilities improved by agreement among member states. All sensors used in Open Skies must be commercially available to all signatories. Quotas Each state party is obligated to receive observation flights per its passive quota allocation. Each state party may conduct as many observation flightsits active quotaas its passive quota. Data sharing and availability Imagery collected from Open Skies missions is available to any state party upon request for the cost of reproduction. As a result, the data available to each state party is much greater than that which it can collect itself under the treaty quota system. == History ==

At a Geneva Conference meeting with Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin in 1955, U.S. President Eisenhower proposed that the United States and Soviet Union conduct surveillance overflights of each other's territory to reassure each country that the other was not preparing to attack. The fears and suspicions of the Cold War led Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev to reject Eisenhower's proposal, known as the Open Skies proposal. Formal observation flights began in August 2002. During the first treaty year, state parties conducted 67 observation flights. In 2004, state parties conducted 74 missions, and planned 110 missions for 2005. On 8 and 9 March 2007, Russia conducted overflights of Canada under the Treaty. The OSCC continues to address modalities for conducting observation missions and other implementation issues. Since 2002, a total of 40 missions have taken place over the U.K. There were 24 quota missions conducted by: Russia – 20; Ukraine – three; and Sweden – one. There were 16 training flights conducted by: Benelux (joint with Estonia); Estonia (joint with Benelux); Georgia – three (one joint with Sweden); Sweden – three (one joint with Georgia); U.S. – three; Latvia; Lithuania; Romania; Slovenia; and Yugoslavia. Also since 2002, the U.K. has undertaken a total of 51 open skies missions – 38 were quota missions to the following countries: Ukraine (five); Georgia (seven); and Russia (26); 13 missions were training missions to the following nations: Bulgaria; Yugoslavia; Estonia; Slovenia (three); Sweden (three); US; Latvia, Lithuania, and the Benelux. The flights cost approximately £50,000 per operational mission, and approximately £25,000 for training missions with an approximate annual cost of £175,000. A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman stated on 4 February 2016 that Turkey had refused a Russian Open Skies mission, planned to take place on 1–5 February 2016, to fly over areas adjacent to Syria, as well as over NATO air bases. According to Russia, Turkey gave no explanation regarding the limitations, and claimed that they indicated illegal military activity in Syrian territory. The OSCC has not commented on the alleged violation of the Treaty by Turkey. By 2016, Russian aircraft was using upgraded equipment for missions. Challenges to the treaty Both Russia and the United States alleged that the other was violating the provisions of the treaty. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited Russia's access refusal in the Russian-controlled areas of Georgia. On 20 September 2019, the U.S. and Canada were denied access to a military exercise in central Russia. American withdrawal In October 2019, documents from the U.S. House of Representatives indicated that President Donald Trump was considering withdrawing from the Open Skies Treaty. Ukraine was against the move, fearing it would enable Russia to reduce further or ban overflights, thus reducing their knowledge of Russian military movements. In April 2020, it was reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had agreed to proceed with U.S. withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies. On 21 May 2020, President Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the treaty due to alleged Russian violations. On 22 May 2020, the United States submitted notice of withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies. Senate Democrats questioned the appropriateness of withdrawal so close to the 2020 United States presidential election. On 22 November 2020, United States official sources—including U.S. Department of State websites, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and the National Security Council's official Twitter account—announced that the six-month period was over and the U.S. was no longer a party to the Treaty. The U.S. said it would share some of its intelligence and reconnaissance information with European allies to make up for any loss of critical information from the withdrawal. Russian withdrawal In January 2021, Russia announced that it would follow the United States in withdrawing from the Treaty on Open Skies. The Biden administration informed Moscow in May 2021 that it would not re-enter the pact; on 7 June 2021 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that formalized Russia's exit from the Treaty on Open Skies. == See also ==