CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ADMITS 23 NEW STATES AS MEMBERS

17 June 1996

Press Release
DCF/266

CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT ADMITS 23 NEW STATES AS MEMBERS

19960617 GENEVA, 17 June (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament unanimously expanded its membership this afternoon by admitting 23 countries, putting into effect a decision made by the Conference last September and later endorsed by the General Assembly.

Chairman Munir Akram (Pakistan) said he would receive a letter from the 23 new countries setting out the manner in which they would cooperate with and make a contribution to the Conference. He lauded "the compromise and cooperation displayed by all" and said the decision would make the forum more representative.

A Conference decision of 23 September 1995 had called for the 23 States to be admitted "at the earliest possible date to be decided by the Conference". Negotiations had since delayed the measure until today. Talks on the subject had continued during the weekend in efforts to iron out remaining differences, and today's meeting -- the Conference usually holds plenaries on Thursdays -- followed. Membership in the Conference now stands at 61 countries.

The new members are Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Finland, Iraq, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe.

They join the 38 existing members, which include the five acknowledged nuclear-weapons States (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States); members of other militarily significant States; and neutral and non-aligned countries making up what is called the "Group of 21". In recent years, an increasing number of non-member nations have been invited, at their request, to take part in the work of the Conference. During the 1995 session, 52 such States participated.

With the expansion of membership, the Conference has achieved one of the two major targets for its 1996 winter-spring session. Negotiations are continuing at an accelerated pace on the second goal -- agreement on a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty by the agreed deadline of 28 June.

Statements were made by the representatives of Cuba, Romania, China, Egypt, Iran, Finland, Israel, Republic of Korea and Argentina.

The Conference will meet again at 10 a.m. Thursday, 20 June.

Statements

EUMELIO CABALLERO (Cuba) said that as coordinator of the "Group of 21", he wished to express satisfaction at the decision of the Conference to expand its membership. The Group hoped to establish close cooperation with the new member States and always had favoured their inclusion in the Conference.

ROMULUS NEAGU (Romania), speaking on behalf of the Eastern European Group, said it was pleased at the step, which brought the composition of the Conference into line with the realities of the post-cold-war era. The group had supported the expansion of membership from the beginning and was happy that a spirit of compromise and flexibility had prevailed and that the Conference had achieved a satisfactory result.

SHA ZUKANG (China) said this was a historic plenary. China extended its warmest congratulations to the new member countries. China had always believed that those 23 countries had the right to full membership and participation in the Conference. It had always advocated the immediate resolution of the subject and the immediate admission of the countries. Due to issues known to all, the matter had not been resolved until today. A later solution was better than none. China was ready to closely cooperate with the newly admitted members of the Conference.

MOUNIR ZAHRAN (Egypt) said there had been a delay of nearly three years, but the Conference's membership finally had been expanded. Egypt had always supported expansion and now welcomed the new members. It was important to bear in mind that other States also were candidates for membership, and Egypt would have preferred a decision that covered all countries which had applied for membership.

Egypt was hopeful that Israel, now a full member of the Conference, would cooperate with other countries in the Middle East to push forward the vitally important issue of arms control in the region -- an issue which must be addressed comprehensively, particularly in an area as volatile as the Middle East. Israel must observe the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and subject its facilities to all International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. The presence of a de facto nuclear-weapon State in the region could not be reconciled with the genuine need for a comprehensive peace in the region. Further, it was a goal of Egypt to have a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. To date, Israel had not decided to forego the nuclear option, but Egypt hoped the recent signing in Cairo of a treaty establishing an African nuclear-free zone would set a good precedent.

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Egypt hoped that an ad hoc working group within the Conference could be set up to discuss such a zone for the Middle East.

HAMID BAIDI-NEJAD (Iran) said Iran had a reservation regarding the membership of one candidate on the list, namely, Israel. Iran felt that the presence of such a candidate would be unwise and not helpful, as Israel had not joined the non-proliferation Treaty and had not submitted its facilities to the IAEA safeguards. However, conscious of the fragility of the formula developed for admission of the new members and wanting the input other new members could provide, Iran had decided not to stand in the way of the admission of all 23 countries.

BJORN EKBLOM (Finland) said it was a historic day for the Conference, as the composition of the body now reflected the international situation. The solution arrived at had not been perfect, but had worked. The solution had provided the means to overcome the obstacle relating to one applicant country, an issue that had delayed the matter for three years. Finland hoped the agreement on the expansion now would add new life and dynamism to the Conference. The agenda now should cover a whole range of issues, nuclear and non-nuclear, and should focus on realistic matters where progress could be achieved.

YOSEF LAMDAN (Israel) said he felt constrained to take the floor in the light of extraneous political elements brought into the discussion by several other speakers. However, he did not wish to detract from the celebratory atmosphere, and so would reserve the right to respond on the substance of those remarks at a later date. Israel was happy at the resolution of the matter and at the admission of the new member States.

SEUNG HO (Republic of Korea) said the Conference had contributed greatly to international peace, and its role could be increased through the expansion of membership. The Republic of Korea would spare no efforts in cooperating with other members in carrying out all important matters, including for the successful and timely conclusion of the comprehensive test-ban treaty.

JUAN CARLOS SANCHEZ ARNAU (Argentina), speaking on behalf of the Western Group, said the decision to expand the Conference's membership was historic; there had been no new members since 1978. The process was part of the dynamic work and mission of the Conference. Argentina extended a welcome to all those who, for too long, had been waiting to become members of the Conference.

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