On Monday 27 January, the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations, Izumi Nakamitsu, welcomed the involvement of the EU and its Member States in disarmament, non-proliferation and control of nuclear weapons.
The year 2020 is of particular importance, she said, especially in view of the Conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which will be held from 27 April to 22 May in New York to mark the 20th anniversary of the treaty's entry into force. Addressing the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence, Ms Nakamitsu hoped that the conference would be an opportunity to confirm the commitments made in the past and to speed up their implementation.
For this, the UN representative is counting on Europe. "There are often very divergent positions; we rely on EU members to facilitate the debate, encouraging others to show flexibility and negotiate in a spirit of compromise", she explained, adding that she expects Europe to play this role. "We are talking about a leading role for the EU towards a positive outcome", she insisted.
Europe will have to be convincing. According to Nakamitsu, 90% of the world's nuclear arsenals are owned by Russia and the United States. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)