The spokeswoman for the European External Action Service, Virginie Battu, recalled on Friday 7 February the commitment of Member States to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“We remain committed to maintaining and strengthening the integrity of the NPT, promoting its universalisation and improving its implementation”, she told EUROPE.
A few hours earlier, in a speech, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, had announced that he would mobilise the “most concerned” European partners on the issue of disarmament, “to lay down the foundations for a joint international strategy that we could put forward in all the fora in which Europe is active”. “Finally, it is important to rethink disarmament priorities. For too long, Europeans have thought that it was enough to lead by example and that if they disarmed, others would follow. This is not so!”, he said. Mr Macron added that France, as a nuclear power, would assume its responsibilities, particularly with regard to nuclear disarmament.
The President also advocated a strategic dialogue with European partners who were ready to do so on the role of nuclear deterrence in collective security and that those who wished to embark on this path could be associated with the exercises of French deterrence forces.
There is no EU common position on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
See the speech: https://bit.ly/2w0pRBv (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)