25 January 2008

Rotating President Samir Labidi of Tunisia opened the second session of the 2008 Conference on Disarmament. Delegates from theRussian Federation and China both delivered statements, and the Netherlands' ambassador gave a short intervention before the plenary was closed for an informal discussion on the agenda. After about 10 minutes, the public session resumed, and the 2008 CD Agenda (CD/WP 548) was formally adopted. Delegates from Slovenia (on behalf of the European Union), the Netherlands, and Sri Lanka then took the floor.

The President presented an overview of bilateral consultations conducted from October 2007 until mid-January 2008 with all delegations to build consensus on the agenda and towards a programme of work for the year. He emphasized that adoption of the agenda "can give a strong signal concerning its determination to move forward." Labidi also indicated that not everyone is on board with a programme of work for 2008, and that he plans to ceaselessly continue consultations in a calm frame of mind to achieve consensus.

China's new ambassador, Mr. Wang Qun, commented that the Conference on Disarmament "has a heavy mandate". He noted a Chinese saying—"the closer we are to the goal the more difficult it becomes"—while referring to the need for a balanced programme of work.

Russian Ambassador Valery Loshchinin suggested that to in order "to get the subject of disarmament back on the global agenda," the programme of work should be based on last year's Presidential Draft Decision, L.1. While he highlighted the need for the Conference to "move from words to deeds" in filling in "the well known gaps in international space law," he also indicated that Russia would not object to starting negotiations on a fissile materials treaty or holding substantive discussions on nuclear disarmament and negative security assurances. He emphasized that the development of a treaty to prevent an arms race in outer space (PAROS), the elements of which were "proposed by Russia and China together with a group of co-sponsors back in June 2002," would "constitute yet another multilateral measure in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and thus would be a real contribution to strengthening the NPT regime." Continuing the high level profile of the CD, Loschinin said that the draft for this treaty will be submitted for consideration on 12 February by Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.

In addition to the Russian Foreign Minister's intended visit, the President of the Conference also announced that the Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom, Des Browne, would be present at the Conference's plenary meeting on Tuesday, 5 February, and the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration of the United States, Thomas D'Agostino, would attend on Tuesday, 12 February.

After a short informal session and the adoption of the agenda, the President announced the list of observer states that were approved to participate in the Conference's 2008 session (see below).

On behalf of the European Union, Ambassador Andrej Logar of Slovenia echoed Ambassador Loshchinin's call for the adoption of 2007'sPresidential Draft Decision L.1. He reiterated the EU's position that negotiations on a fissile materials treaty is a "clear priority," while relaying that the EU is also "ready to engage in substantial discussion on the other items included in L.1." Ambassador Logar also reminded the President of the Conference that there are still a number of states who have submitted their formal request to join the CD, many of them from the EU.

Quoting the "Renewed Call for A Nuclear Free World" printed in the Wall Street Journal on 15 January 2008 by George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger, and Sam Nunn, the ambassador of Netherlands, Johannes Landman, argued that a nuclear free world was indeed possible. Landman went on to quote Plutarch, reminding the Conference, "Perseverance is more prevailing than violence," and there are many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yet yield themselves up when taken little by little. He also recalled the words of Moliere, noting that it is not only what we do, but what we do NOT do for which we are accountable.

Sri Lanka's Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka reminded the CD that those who are striving for nuclear weapons are doing so as a symptom of insecurity—either real or perceived—and that getting to the root of these security perceptions is a necessary step, "incumbent on us to be sensitive to," in order to move forward with the work of the Conference.

Non-member states that have been approved to participate in the work of the Conference in 2008:

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Holy See, Iceland, Kuwait, Latvia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Moldova, Mozambique, Oman, Philippines, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Sudan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Arab Emirates

The President bid farewell to the Ambassador Tofique Ali of Bangladesh, Ambassador Cheng Jingye of China, Ambassador Prasad of India, Ambassador Shein of Myanmar, Ambassador Bocar Ly of Senegal, and Ambassador Strømmen of Norway.

He welcomed Ambassador Wang Qun of China, Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao of India, Ambassador Lucia Fiori of Italy, and the new ambassadors of Bangladesh, Denmark, Norway, Senegal, and Ukraine.

The next public plenary session will be Tuesday, 29 January at 10am.

- Sandra Fong and Susi Snyder, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will