Under the Open Skies / OpenSkies Treaty, from 2 to 6 September last, a team of Italian, Hungarian and Slovenian inspectors carried out an aerial observation flight with Antonov-26 aircraft over the territory of Ukraine.
Operational activity was conducted from the Kiev airport and covered a large area of the western portion of the country.
The national inspection team, made up of experts from different defense divisions and under the coordination of the Armaments Control and Verification and Counterproliferation Office of the III Department of the Defense Staff, worked jointly with the Hungarian and Slovenian personnel, guaranteeing the fulfillment of the mission and the achievement of the objectives set in compliance with the procedures provided for by the Treaty.
The observation flight ended successfully, helping to promote transparency and mutual trust between the intervening countries, in full harmony with the spirit of the Treaty. The results of the activity confirmed the goodness of the Defense approach, which in synergy with the partners and in the pursuit of the national interest, once again enhanced the country's commitment in a delicate international context.
The Open Skies / Open Skies Treaty signed in Helsinki in 1992 constitutes, together with the Conventional Forces Europe (CFE) Treaty and the Vienna Document, one of the pillars of conventional arms control and allows the reciprocal carrying out of aerial observation missions on the territories of the Acceding states.
