Algerian minister of foreign affairs calls for the elimination of nuclear weapons

Mourad Medelci, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, addressed the Conference on Disarmament (CD). Representatives of Tunisia, the Syrian Arab Republic, Indonesia, Egypt, and Brazil welcomed his statement and the incoming president of the Conference, Ambassador Idriss Jazairy of Algeria. The Ukrainian ambassador spoke on the importance of nuclear disarmament and outer space security and the Polish ambassador reported on a related conference held in Warsaw in November 2008.

Brief highlights

- Algeria called for multilateral negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons.
- Ukraine called for support for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and negotiation of a fissile materials cut-off treaty and legally-binding negative security assurances.
- Poland presented a report from the Warsaw Reflection Group’s conference on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, held in November 2008.
- Poland announced that it will be chairing the 2009 session of the UN Disarmament Commission, which will meet 13 April–1 May in New York.

Calls for nuclear disarmament
Speaking during the first plenary meeting of his country’s CD presidency, Algeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci argued that the “nuclear menace” persists, given the existing 27,000 nuclear warheads and the inclusion of use of such weapons in security doctrines. He expressed hope that the 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference would experience “tangible results” on all three pillars—disarmament, non-proliferation, and nuclear energy—and the creation of a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East, which would help promote the peace process and should not be subordinated to it.

Minister Medelci also argued that non-nuclear weapon states have a right to insist that the nuclear weapon states engage in negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons, as called for by the UN General Assembly, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Group of 21. He also noted that while bilateral reductions between the United States and Russia are welcome, such measures would have more impact if they were accompanied by a process of multilateral discussions.

Ukrainian Ambassador Mykola Maimeskul welcomed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s five-point proposal for nuclear disarmament, which includes support for a Nuclear Weapons Convention. He also welcomed the European Union proposals on disarmament and “input” from civil society groups, saying that all these “developments mean that the fresh wind of change in the field of global disarmament has already opened new windows of opportunities, destined to upgrade current system of international security architecture and bring back consensus spirit in this Chamber.” He also noted, “progress on nuclear disarmament is essential to win the struggle against proliferation.”

In this vein, the Ukrainian ambassador and Algerian minister expressed support for negotiating a fissile materials cut-off treaty, the possibility of which has, according to Minister Medelci, “become promising given the political will expressed by certain key partners for accepting verification measures.”

Outer space security
The Ukrainian ambassador welcomed the Russian-Chinese draft treaty on preventing the placement of weapons in outer space and the EU draft Code of Conduct on Outer Space Activities. He also explained that Ukraine provides transparency on its space activities through the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

Report from Warsaw conference
Ambassador Andrzej Misztal of Poland presented a report from the Warsaw Reflection Group’s conference on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, “Arms Control Revisited: Non-proliferation and Denuclearization,” which took place 20–21 November 2008. Ambassador Misztal explained the conference “joined the mainstream of ongoing discussion” of these topics—the mainstream being the Hoover Institute, the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, the Luxembourg Forum, the Global Zero Initiative, and the Oslo Conference. The Warsaw conference explored the history of nuclear disarmament, including the denuclearization of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan and the report welcomed talk between the United States and Russia regarding a new strategic arms reduction agreement by the end of 2009, saying it will positively impact the 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.

Other business
The CD agreed to a request from Tajikistan to participate in the 2009 session of the Conference as an observer.

The next plenary meeting of the CD is scheduled for Thursday, 19 March 2009.

- Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will of WILPF