BELARUS ANNOUNCES RATIFICATION OF OPEN SKIES TREATY AT CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

BELARUS ANNOUNCES RATIFICATION OF OPEN SKIES TREATY

AT CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

Incoming President of Conference:

Amorim Proposal Good Basis for Further In-Depth Consultations

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 31 May (UN Information Service) -- A representative of Belarus this morning informed the Conference on Disarmament that the Parliament of Belarus had ratified the Open Skies Treaty on 17 May 2001.

[The Open Skies Treaty was signed in Helsinki on 24 March 1992 within the framework of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.  The Treaty gives access to air space from Vancouver to Vladivostok for military planes.]  The representative said that this decision showed the devotion of Belarus to strict compliance with its obligations in the areas of international security and arms control.  Belarus hoped this step would strengthen understanding among States.

Also this morning, the incoming President of the Conference on Disarmament, Camilo Reyes Rodriguez, said that the Amorim proposal (CD/1624) was a valuable asset for the Conference and a good basis for further in-depth consultations in order to reach agreement on a programme of work.

Bearing in mind that the primary obligation of the Conference was to agree on a programme of work, Ambassador Reyes Rodriguez said he would spend his time trying to achieve consensus on the proposals related to the Amorim proposal.  While awaiting a change in international circumstances which would make progress in the work of the Conference possible, the body could and should continue to seek agreement on a programme of work, and it should forge ahead and work on elements in the programme that have already been agreed upon.  The Conference should make efficient use of the framework that it provided for discussion and negotiations.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday,

7 June.

Statements

CAMILO REYES RODRIGUEZ (Colombia), the incoming President of the Conference, said that for more than two years he had witnessed the patience, creativity and diligence with which his predecessors had sought a solution to the problems facing

the Conference on Disarmament.  He paid tribute to his predecessors who had participated in this long and laborious process.  They had been defining elements which could produce a consensus on the programme of work.  His immediate predecessor, Ambassador Hu Xiaodi of China, had recommended in his concluding statement a line of action with which he fully agreed and which would establish the direction of his efforts.  With the cooperation of the delegations, he planned to pursue a path that would confirm the eminence of the Conference as the sole international forum for multilateral disarmament negotiations.

Ambassador Reyes Rodriguez said that the Amorim proposal (CD/1624) was a valuable asset for the Conference and a good basis for further in-depth consultations and agreement on a programme of work.  Bearing in mind that the primary obligation of the Conference was to agree on a programme of work, he would spend his time trying to achieve consensus on the proposals related to the Amorim proposal.  Ambassador Hu in his concluding statement had said that the Conference was in a period of “waiting” in view of the complex international situation and the deterioration of the security environment.  But waiting did not mean paralysis of the Conference.  While awaiting a change in the international circumstances which would make progress in the work of the Conference possible, it could and should continue to seek agreement on a programme of work, and it should forge ahead and work on elements in the programme that have already been agreed upon.  The Conference should make efficient use of the framework that it provided for discussion and negotiations.  He had initiated his negotiations to determine precisely where the delegations stood at this moment.  When he finished his first round of consultations tomorrow, he hoped that he would be able to outline the situation concerning alternative solutions to the programme of work.

VLADIMIR MALEVICH (Belarus) affirmed his delegation’s comprehensive support for the work of the President.  Belarus continued to attach great importance to participation in the work of the Conference on Disarmament.  It hoped the work of the Conference would lead to complete nuclear disarmament, as well as greater transparency in that area.  He informed the Conference that the Parliament of Belarus had recently approved and ratified the Open Skies Treaty.  This decision showed the devotion of Belarus to strict compliance with its obligations in the areas of international security and arms control.  Belarus hoped this step would strengthen understanding among States.

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