DISARMAMENT CONFRENCE SHOULD WORK TOWARDS BAN ON FISSILE MATERIAL, SAYS SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER
Press Release
DCF/291
DISARMAMENT CONFRENCE SHOULD WORK TOWARDS BAN ON FISSILE MATERIAL, SAYS SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER
19970314 GENEVA, 11 March (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament should start negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear-explosive devices, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Lena Hjelm-Wallén, said this morning.Speaking to the Conference during a plenary session, the Foreign Minister urged all delegations to show the necessary flexibility to get "cut-off" negotiations started without further delay. Regarding nuclear disarmament, she said the Treaty on the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II) between the United States and the Russian Federation should be ratified without delay. The Swedish Government urged the United States and Russia to overcome present difficulties and proceed towards a START III.
According to Ms. Hjelm-Wallén, Sweden also believed it would be useful to establish some mechanism within the Conference to discuss broader aspects of nuclear disarmament. That could take the form of an ad hoc committee, a special coordinator or informal plenary meetings, she added.
Ms. Hjelm-Wallén also called on the international community to spare no effort to achieve a comprehensive, effective and legally binding international ban on anti-personnel land-mines. Sweden would work actively for this goal in all suitable forums -- it participated in the Ottawa process and was ready to do so in the Conference. She recalled that the Conference was already several months into its 1997 session, adding that political will must now be demonstrated and substantive work started.
At the end of the morning meeting, Conference President Pavel Grecu of Romania indicated that informal open-ended presidential consultations on a programme of work were continuing.
The next plenary meeting of the Conference is scheduled for Thursday, 13 March, at 10 a.m..
Statement by Foreign Minister of Sweden
LENA HJELM-WALLÉN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, said profound changes in the security environment had created radically new and positive conditions for building a safer and more secure world. It was not possible to
build a sustainable security order and lasting peace on the threat of weapons of mass destruction. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), negotiated in the Conference, constituted a landmark event in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The solid support for the Treaty testified to the strong will of the international community to put an end to nuclear-weapon-test explosions or any other nuclear explosion. The international community must now ensure the early entry into force of the Treaty. She urged those States in the Conference that had not already done so to shoulder their responsibility and sign the Treaty as soon as possible.
For its part, the Swedish Government welcomed the results of the resumed first session of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization held last week in Geneva, she continued. The group's decisions had laid the foundation for beginning the work in Vienna, the site of the headquarters of the Treaty organization. The Conference should now start negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear-explosive devices ("cut-off"). She urged all delegations to show the necessary flexibility to get those negotiations started without further delay. The Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) also called for the immediate commencement and early conclusion of such negotiations.
Regarding nuclear disarmament, the Foreign Minister said the Treaty on the Further Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II) between the United States and the Russian Federation should be ratified without delay, thus paving the way for additional deep reductions of those countries' nuclear arsenals. That, in turn, would create a basis for the participation of all nuclear-weapon States in the reduction process. The Swedish Government urged the United States and Russia to overcome present difficulties and proceed towards a START III. Sweden hoped the summit meeting between Presidents William Clinton and Boris Yeltsin later this month would give an important impetus to this process.
Ms. Hjelm-Wallén recalled that in August 1996, the Canberra Commission had submitted its report, which set out a series of concrete measures towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. She proposed that the Conference devote some of its time this year to the consideration of that document. One of the steps proposed by the Commission was to take nuclear forces off alert. That step should be taken immediately by the nuclear-weapon States so as to, among other things, greatly reduce the risk of an accidental or unauthorized nuclear weapon launch. Sweden also believed it would be useful to establish some mechanism within the Conference to discuss broader aspects of nuclear disarmament. That could take the form of an ad hoc committee, a special coordinator or informal plenary meetings.
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Turning to the preparatory work for the next NPT Review Conference in the year 2000, she said the concept of systematic and progressive efforts by the nuclear-weapon States to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of eliminating them, must be given a concrete content. Last July, the International Court of Justice had stated, among other things, that "there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control". That unanimous conclusion by the Court constituted a strong and clear message. Furthermore, some 60 retired high- ranking military officers from the United States, Russia and other countries had stressed that long-term international nuclear policy must be based on the declared principle of continuous, complete and irrevocable elimination of nuclear weapons.
But important developments were now taking place in non-nuclear fields as well, Ms. Hjelm-Wallén noted, recalling that the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, negotiated at the Conference, would enter into force on 29 April. However, it was a deplorable fact that the United States and Russia, the two declared possessors of chemical weapons, had not yet ratified the Convention. In connection with another disarmament instrument negotiated at the Conference, Sweden welcomed the fact that work had now started on a verification regime for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction.
Ms. Hjem-Wallén said that by their very nature, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction must be accorded the highest priority in the international agenda. But the international community must also deal with the fact that every year tens of thousands of persons fell victim to conventional weapons, such as anti-personnel land-mines. Sweden had neither exported nor produced anti-personnel land-mines for the last 15 years. Furthermore, Sweden had decided last year to prohibit their use by the country's armed forces and to destroy stocks as soon as possible and no later than the year 2001. The international community must spare no effort to achieve a comprehensive, effective and legally binding international ban on those weapons, covering production, stockpiling, transfers and use. Sweden would work actively for that goal in all suitable forums -- it participated in the Ottawa process and was ready to do so in the Conference.
The existing window of opportunity for carrying the disarmament process forward must be utilized to the furthest extent possible, the Foreign Minister continued. The Conference was already several months into its 1997 session. Political will must now be demonstrated and substantive work started.
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