Brussels, 13/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 13 June, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to enter into force.
“We want the treaty to enter into force and to be universalised. All EU member states have ratified it, and we are strongly committed - both politically and financially - to pursuing all the objectives of the treaty”, Mogherini said in a speech to the ministerial conference in Vienna of the preparatory committee for the organisation of the CTBT. Twenty years after being signed, the CTBT - which bans any nuclear explosion, hindering both the initial development of nuclear weapons and significant improvements - has still not entered into force. It is nevertheless applied provisionally.
“Important states, playing a key role in international relations, have still not signed nor ratified it. In particular, the eight remaining Annex 2 states have not moved closer to signature and ratification”¸ Mogherini regretted. In order for the CTBT to enter into force, the 44 Annex 2 countries - in other words, the countries that took part in the disarmament conference in 1996 and had nuclear reactors at that time - should ratify the treaty. However, only 36 have done so - while the USA, China, Israel, Iran, Egypt, although signing the treaty, have not ratified it, and while India, Pakistan and South Korea have not even signed it.
“We all bear responsibility to facilitate the signature and ratification by the remaining Annex 2 states”, Mogherini said, calling for unity and stronger pressure. “Together, we can pave the way for entry into force of the treaty at the earliest possible date”, she said, calling for action: “We must work with governments and state institutions. Signing and ratifying the CTBT can be an important step for the states who want to deepen their integration in the international community”. “We should use all opportunities to make this clear, and to enhance international cooperation for the promotion of this treaty”, she added.
Since 1996, the CTBT has been signed by 183 countries and ratified by 164 of them. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)