Status: 01.08.2022 10:35 a.m
Foreign Minister Baerbock wants to continue to advocate nuclear disarmament. Speaking to the United Nations nuclear weapons conference, she said that if you make even a millimeter of progress in New York, it’s worth every effort.
Despite global crises such as the war in Ukraine, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to continue fighting for nuclear disarmament. Before leaving for a United Nations nuclear weapons conference in New York, she said: “No matter how far away this goal may seem in the current world situation, we must never lose sight of this goal and must be persistent when it comes to… its implementation goes.”
Along with 15 other countries, Germany made 22 proposals for nuclear disarmament. If you make “even a millimeter” of progress in New York, it’s worth every effort, said Baerbock before the UN conference. This wants to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Such a review of the contract goals is planned every five years – the tenth review should take place as early as 2020, but has now been postponed to this date due to the corona pandemic.
Guterres and Blinken as speakers at UN conference
At the start of the conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will speak alongside Baerbock. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has been announced as a speaker from Russia.
Nuclear disarmament had stalled even before Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine. Now the reduction of the nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons worldwide is becoming even more difficult.
Nuclear disarmament as a treaty goal
The more than 50-year-old agreement, to which 191 countries have joined, forms the basis for nuclear disarmament worldwide. It states that only the US, Russia, China, France and the UK can possess nuclear weapons. The four other suspected nuclear powers India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea have either not joined the treaty or have withdrawn from it. The aim of the treaty is to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, promote nuclear disarmament and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
In addition to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, there is also the more far-reaching Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty, which is rejected by the nuclear powers and all alliance states including Germany. However, in the coalition agreement, the Greens managed to ensure that Germany, contrary to the NATO line, would participate as an observer in a conference of the parties – together with Norway as one of only two states in the defense alliance. That was also implemented in June. In addition, Germany, together with 15 other countries, is committed to concrete disarmament steps in the so-called Stockholm Initiative.
Three-day trip to the USA and Canada
For Baerbock, the nuclear weapons conference marks the start of a three-day trip to the United States and Canada. In addition to Guterres, the Green politician also wants to meet Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in New York. Tomorrow she will give a speech there on transatlantic relations and will travel on to Canada in the evening for her inaugural visit.