Vienna Document
The Vienna Document is a series of agreements on confidence and security-building measures between the states of Europe, starting in 1990, with subsequent updates in 1992, 1994, 1999 and 2011. The Vienna Document 2011 was adopted by 57 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) participating states, including the states of Central Asia and Russia (for its territory west of the Ural Mountains). It described its zone of application (ZOA) as "the whole of Europe, as well as the adjoining sea area and air space". Creation The Vienna Document was first adopted in 1990 as a combination of confidence and security-building measure (CSBMs) from the 1975 Helsinki Accords and the 1986 Stockholm Document. The Vienna Document on CSBMs and the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) were seen as parallel peace process components. Updates 1990s The Vienna Document was updated in 1992, 1994,1999 and 2011. 2000s The Vienna Document was seen as a low priority in the West in the 2000s. Russian suspension of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) in 2007 complicated negotiations for updating the Vienna Document. 2010s The 2010 adoption of the Vienna Document plus, initiated by Russia, led to the Vienna Document 2011. Four Vienna Document Plus decisions, including prior notification of sub-threshold major military activities and on the lengths of air base visits, were added in 2012 and 2013. Full updates to the Vienna Document stopped with the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War. Vienna Document 2011 confidence-building measures were used during the first year of the war, with 19 verification actions in Ukraine by 27 states and 5 verification actions in Russia by 11 states, including Ukraine, by October 2014. Vienna Document 2011 confidence-building measures were blocked in the parts of Ukraine not controlled by Ukrainian government forces. During negotiations in 2016 and 2018, Western negotiators aimed to strengthen the Vienna Document, while Russian negotiators preferred to implement the Vienna Document 2011 and following Vienna Document Plus decisions. In 2017, the Vienna Document, the CFE and the Treaty on Open Skies were seen by the OSCE as "a web of interlocking and mutually reinforcing arms control obligations and commitments" that "together ... enhance predictability, transparency and military stability and reduce the risk of a major conflict in Europe." 2020s As of late 2020, military exercises by both Western and Russian forces took place as snap exercises (close to borders and on short notice) that are not covered by the Vienna Document 2011. Researcher Wolfgang Zellner saw the mix of cooperation and deterrence that had developed through to the early 2000s as evolving to an increasing mutual deterrence scenario. As of late 2020, Russian objections to updating the Vienna Document were that a broader arms control agreement was needed. Proposed updates Updates to the Vienna Document proposed around 2016 include lowering the threshold for prior notification of military activities, risk reduction (Chapter III) proposals, additional or stronger inspections, independent fact-finding missions, and creating a centralised OSCE database on OSCE participating states' main