German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that his country, along with other countries, will try to persuade the American leadership to rethink the issue of its withdrawal from the “open skies” treaty.
Sputnik quoted the press office of the German Foreign Ministry as saying that Maas stressed that “the withdrawal of the United States from the open skies treaty will seriously reduce the scope of the treaty and weaken the general system of this treaty”, noting that “the decision of the United States to exit from the treaty will enter into force after a period of six months ”
“We will work extensively with partners who share our opinion to persuade the American leadership to rethink again their decision,” the German foreign minister added.
The Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee in the US House of Representatives Democratic Party Adam Smith warned yesterday that the decision to withdraw from the treaty which was taken by the administration of President Donald Trump without the approval of Congress posed a threat to the American forces in Europe.
US officials announced yesterday that the United States intends to withdraw from the agreement, which includes 35 countries and that allows air reconnaissance operations with unarmed aircraft in the airspace of the participating countries within six months, according to the terms of exit from the agreement.
It is noteworthy that the “Open Skies” treaty was signed in 1992 and became one of the confidence-building measures in Europe after the Cold War. It has been in operation since 2002 and allows participating countries to collect information openly about the armed forces and each other’s activities.
Source : Sana
