A team of arms control inspectors of Lithuania are conducting an evaluation visit to the 6th Mountain Warfare Brigade in Absam, Austria, on October 22 on the basis of provisions of the Vienna Document 2011 of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
During the inspection the Lithuanian arms control inspectors will be briefed on the structure of the military unit, numbers of serving personnel activities, major weaponry and equipment systems, and to examples of those. The inspectors will be also able to familiarise with routine activities at the Brigade, talk to soldiers and tour main infrastructure.
According to regulations of the Vienna Document 2011, the arms control experts of Lithuania will report to the members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Austria’s compliance with provisions of the Vienna Document 2011 witnessed during the inspection.
This is the third visit of Lithuanian arms control inspectors to a military unit abroad on the basis of the Vienna Document 2011 this year, the first two have been carried out in the Russian Federation.
The Vienna Document 2011 commits the signatory countries to conduct annual information exchange on their manpower, planned capability development and defence budgets on an annual basis, and to notify other Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) countries in advance of scheduled military activities of significant scope. The states also commit to accept a designated number of inspections and evaluation visits by other member states’ military inspectors in military units in their territories.
On the basis of provisions of the Vienna Document 2011, each OSCE member country has the right to verify if the other OSCE member country is not engaged in large-scale military activities that require prior notification and has no undeclared military capabilities.
