Dear friends,The Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström today hosted a meeting in Stockholm of high-level representatives (mostly foreign ministers) from 16 countries to elevate political attention to nuclear risks, and to inject new life into the nuclear disarmament commitments made by States parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).The participating governments include a mix of non-nuclear countries (Argentina, Finland, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland) and allied countries under extended nuclear deterrence policies (Canada, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea and Spain) making this a very credible and potentially effective group. The ministerial meeting is part of a ‘Stepping Stones initiative‘ introduced by Sweden to the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting in May 2019. “The situation in the world is critical, and the risk of nuclear arms use is greater than it has been for many years, ‘ said Ms Wallström. ‘We are taking this initiative because we must make vigorous efforts for disarmament.” This initiative could possibly bridge the divide between nuclear and non-nuclear States and build agreement at the 2020 NPT Review conference on a practical and substantive forward path to nuclear disarmament.Participants of the Stockholm Ministerial Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament and the Non-Proliferation Treaty on 11 June, 2019. Photo: Sofia Nahringbauer / Government Offices of SwedenThe specific disarmament measures being discussed as part of the initiative are outlined in a working paper entitled Unlocking disarmament diplomacy through a “stepping stone” approachwhich Sweden submitted to the 2019 NPT Preparatory Committee Meeting. The paper calls on nuclear armed and allied States at the 2020 NPT Review conference to agree to a number of measures including to:Strengthen the norm against nuclear weapons use, for example by affirming that ”a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”;Prevent the outbreak of nuclear war by adopting sole-purpose and/or no-first use policies;Ratify all outstanding protocols to the regional nuclear-weapon-free-zones (NWFZs), and by doing so affirm that they would not threaten or use nuclear weapons against the states parties to NWFZs;Create a clear distinction between conventional and nuclear delivery systems, so as to avoid nuclear war by misunderstanding or mission creep;Increase the decision-making time for launching nuclear weapons to avoid launches by mistake, and consider de-alerting all weapons and rescinding ‘launch on warning’ policies. For further background and analysis see High-level meeting in Stockholm injects life into the NPT nuclear disarmament commitments by PNND and Stepping Stones to Disarmament – Making Progress in a Polarised International Climate by Paul Ingram, British-American Security Information Council.Yours sincerely Alyn Ware PNND Global Coordinator On behalf of the PNND Coordinating Team |
| Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) is a global network of legislators working on a range of initiatives to prevent nuclear proliferation and to achieve a nuclear weapons free world. www.pnnd.org www.facebook.com/pnndglobal info@pnnd.org PNND Head office Basel Peace Office c/o Seminar für Soziologie Petersgraben 27 CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland Phone: +41 788 912-156 PNND United Nations Office 866 UN Plaza, Suite 4050 New York, NY 10017, USA Phone: +1 646 289-5170 Fax: +1 646 289-5171 Mobile: +1 646 752 8702 PNND UK Office World Future Council 100 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5NQ, UK Phone: +44 20 73213810 |
