CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN UNION AND TURKEY

The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard statements from the European Union on the use of radiological materials by terrorists and on a comprehensive programme of disarmament, as well as a general statement by Turkey. Spain, as the incoming President of the Conference, outlined the programme of work of the Conference for the next four weeks.

Germany, speaking on behalf of the European Union on the use of radiological materials by terrorists, said since the first establishment of the traditional agenda of the Conference, the security environment had changed substantially and so had the global challenges to international security. One of the new challenges that had emerged was the risk of terrorists setting off a so-called “dirty bomb”. This risk was real. The European Union urged all States to work together in the framework of the existing international instruments to effectively prevent terrorists from acquiring radiological material and underlined the importance of national measures in this regard.

On the issue of a comprehensive programme of disarmament, Germany, on behalf of the European Union, said that it was high time to establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms. As there was currently no comprehensive internationally binding instrument available to provide an agreed regulatory framework for this activity, the European Union welcomed the growing support in all parts of the world for an Arms Trade Treaty. The European Union and its Member States would positively respond to the inquiry of the Secretary-General seeking the views of Member States on the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, and encouraged all partners in the Conference to do the same before the end of April.

Turkey noted that the Conference had completed the first round of informal consultations under the first four agenda items, and had started on the fifth item. While Turkey’s views on these issues were summarized in a general statement before the Conference on 30 January, the delegation felt the need to highlight some of the key points of its contribution. In conclusion, Turkey welcomed the agreement reached among the six parties in Beijing, concerning the initial steps aimed at implementing the 2005 joint statement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Ambassador Juan Antonio March of Spain, speaking in his capacity as incoming President of the Conference on Disarmament, outlined the programme of work under Spain’s Presidency of the Conference for the next four weeks.

The next public plenary of the Conference will be held on Thursday, 22 February, at 10 a.m., when the Minister for Disarmament of the United Kingdom, Kim Howells, will address the Conference.

Statements

JUAN ANTONIO MARCH (Spain), speaking in his capacity as President of the Conference on Disarmament, said as Spain began its first term as Chair of the Conference, he wanted to reiterate that his country believed that disarmament called for a realistic approach, designed to build bridges in order to settle specific differences and facilitate the opening of negotiations. Spain hoped that one of the results of this year’s work would be a start on the negotiation of an effective treaty to halt the production of fissile material (FMCT).

Outlining the programme of work under Spain’s Presidency of the Conference, he said this plenary would be followed by an informal meeting on new types of weapons and new systems of mass destruction, radiological weapons, to be chaired by the Coordinator. This topic would be addressed in two informal afternoon meetings on 20 and 21 February. There would be informal meetings on 22 and 23 February on the comprehensive programme of disarmament. There would be informal meetings on 26, 27 and 28 February on transparency in armaments. On 1 and 2 March, there would be informal meetings on cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament. On 5,6 and 7 March, there would be informal meetings on prevention of nuclear war, including all relating matters. On 8 and 9 March, there would be informal meeting on the prevention of an arms race in outer space. And the final week of Spain’s term would be devoted to discussing effective international arrangements to assure non nuclear weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, and to new types of weapons and new systems of mass destruction, radiological weapons.

Spain appealed for senior political figures to address the Conference. In conclusion, the President said that on 22 February at 10 a.m., a public plenary would be held when the Minister for Disarmament of the United Kingdom, Kim Howells, would address the Conference.

BERNHARD BRASACK (Germany), speaking on behalf of the European Union on the use of radiological materials by terrorists, said since the first establishment of the traditional agenda of the Conference, the security environment had changed substantially and so had the global challenges to international security. One of the new challenges that had emerged was the risk of terrorists setting off a so-called “dirty bomb”. This risk was real. In this context, the European Union welcomed the adoption in September 2006 of the United Nations General Assembly’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which reiterated the need to strengthen coordination and cooperation among States in combating the smuggling of nuclear, chemical, biological, radiological and other potentially deadly materials. The European Union called for renewed efforts to address the dangers posed by the uncontrolled release of radioactive materials.

The European Union Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction of 12 December 2003 stated that the risk that terrorists would acquire, among others, radiological materials added a new critical dimension to the terrorist threat. It further stated that non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control could make an essential contribution in the global fight against terrorism by reducing the risk of non-States actors gaining access to, among others, radioactive materials. The European Union urged all States to work together in the framework of the existing international instruments to effectively prevent terrorists from acquiring radiological material and underlined the importance of national measures in this regard.

AHMET UZUMCU (Turkey) said the Conference had completed the first round of informal consultations under the first four agenda items, and had started on the fifth item. While Turkey’s views on these issues were summarized in a general statement before the Conference on 30 January, the delegation felt the need to highlight some of the key points of its contribution. The informal deliberations on agenda item one - cessation of
the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament - demonstrated the importance attached by all delegations to the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament. The Coordinator for the agenda item had presented a compilation entitled “Clustering of the concrete proposals for substantive issues that required more focused attention during the second part of the annual session, with a view to commencing negotiations”. In Turkey’s view, a realistic assessment would point the Conference in the direction of an incremental approach starting from the least common denominator. A good starting block would seem to be confidence building through increased information sharing and transparency.

Regarding agenda item two – prevention of nuclear war, including all related matters – Turkey attached particular importance to the negotiation of a non-discriminatory and universal treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices (FMCT). The Conference should make best use of the momentum gained on this issue and try its utmost to achieve progress on an FMCT, an issue which Turkey believed was ripe for negotiation.

During the deliberations on agenda item three – prevention of an arms race in outer space – Turkey attached a growing importance to the peaceful use of outer space. For Turkey, protecting the right of unrestricted access to and use of outer space for peaceful purposes was more important than the venue or the modalities of the discussion, and it saw merit in discussing the prevention of an arms race in outer space at the Conference.

And concerning the discussions on agenda item four – effective international arrangements to assure non nuclear weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons – Turkey supported the views and proposals of establishing political mechanisms, followed by legally binding international instruments, which would assure the non-use of nuclear weapons by nuclear weapon States against non nuclear weapon States. Turkey believed that there was sufficient ground, beyond the mere fact that it was a Conference agenda item, to adequately discuss at the Conference the issue of negative security assurances.

On the ongoing informal discussions on agenda item 5 – new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons – the debate on preventing so-called non-State actors, some of which were terrorist organizations, from acquiring weapons of mass destruction should be conducted in line with the letter and spirit of UN Security Council resolution 1540 (2004).

In conclusion, Turkey welcomed the agreement reached among the six parties in Beijing, concerning the initial steps aimed at implementing the 2005 joint statement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

BERNHARD BRASACK (Germany), speaking on behalf of the European Union on a comprehensive programme of disarmament, said the question of a comprehensive programme of disarmament had for a long time been discussed in the Conference and its predecessor organizations. In 1997, this item became a platform for considering a new issue, namely a comprehensive global ban on anti-personnel landmines. The European Union fully supported the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention and welcomed progress achieved in universalizing it, destroying stockpiled anti-personnel landmines, clearing mined areas, and assisting the victims. The European Union called upon all States that had not yet done so to ratify or accede to the Convention as soon as possible. It had provided assistance to affected States and communities and would continue to do so.

The European Union maintained that it was high time to establish common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms. As there was currently no comprehensive internationally binding instrument available to provide an agreed regulatory framework for this activity, the European Union welcomed the growing support in all parts of the world for an Arms Trade Treaty. The European Union considered that starting a comprehensive formal process to this end within the United
Nations framework at the earliest opportunity was called for and viewed the resolution A/RES/61/89 at the General Assembly entitled “Towards an arms trade treaty: establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms” as providing the basis for this. The European Union and its Member States would positively respond to the inquiry of the Secretary-General seeking the views of Member States on the feasibility, scope and draft parameters for a comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms, and encouraged all partners in the Conference to do the same before the end of April. The European Union was interested to hear the views of other Member States of the Conference on this issue and on other issues falling under this agenda item.