Austrian Minister addresses CD

Austria’s Federal Minister for European and International Affairs addressed the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on Wednesday morning. Dr. Michael Spindelegger focused on recent positive developments in arms control and disarmament rather than on the renewed blockage in the CD.

He welcomed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s five-point plan for nuclear disarmament, positive statements by US President Obama, Russian President Medvedev, and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang. Stating that the vision for a nuclear weapon free world is “shared by the most important nuclear powers,” he looked for corresponding concrete actions: bilateral reductions and the global atmosphere in multilateral arms control negotiations. Welcoming these, he called for real implementation and compliance and outlined Austria’s expectations for the future of nuclear disarmament and arms control:

Entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;

Commencing negotiations of an fissile materials cut-off treaty; and

Holding a successful NPT Review Conference.

For conventional weapons, Austria’s expectations include:

A strong Cartagena Action Plan to emerge from the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, which among other things improves assistance to landmine survivors;

The entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions by the end of 2009; and

The conclusion of a legally-binding International Arms Trade Treaty.

Finally, Dr. Spindelegger noted that civil society actors have been “important motors” of disarmament and arms control processes and that Austria believes these processes must be open and participatory to succeed.

Next meeting
The next plenary meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 3 September 2009 at 10:00 AM, when the Conference will hear from the chairperson elect of the UNGA First Committee.

- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF