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Vienna Document

OSCE agreement from 1990

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 24, 2025
Entity authorityQ15145265
Source-derived summary

The Vienna Document is a series of agreements on confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) related to military resources among the states of Europe. The initial agreement was established in 1990, with subsequent updates in 1992, 1994, 1999, and 2011. The most recent version, the Vienna Document 2011, was adopted by 57 participating states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), including the countries of Central Asia and Russia (for its territory west of the Ural Mountains). It defines its zone of application (ZOA) as encompassing "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 compilation of confidence- and security-building measures (CSBMs) derived 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 regarded as parallel components of the peace process.

Updates

1990s

The Vienna Document was updated in 1992, 1994, 1999, and 2011.

2000s

The Vienna Document was regarded as a low priority in the West during the 2000s. Russia's 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 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 adjustments to the length of air base visits, were added in 2012 and 2013.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Vienna Document” as oSCE agreement from 1990. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1990, 1992, 1994, 1999—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Vienna, Document and OSCE can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as oSCE agreement from 1990. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q15145265. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1999.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Vienna Document”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Vienna Document primary sources, Vienna Document archive and Vienna research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Vienna Document” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.