Russia has announced its preparedness to withdraw from the
Open Skies Treaty (OST). In doing so they follow the US example: Washington has left the treaty over Russian violations in November 2020. This recent piece by YGLN Vice-Chair Julia Berghofer for the Netherlands UN Association (NVVN) is worth a re-read in this context. It explores, first, the treaty itself, its provisions and its value for all states parties. Second, Julia covers how this treaty was implemented so far and what were the concerns among US decision-makers. The article concludes with international reactions to the US withdrawal. Julia argues that ‘influential states like Germany and France, and perhaps the UK, face a special responsibility now with regards to the survival of the treaty’. Read full text here.

Picture: AA A319 by Brendan Williams/Flickr Creative Commons