Disarmament Diplomacy

NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting

Extracts

"13. We remain committed to a successful adaptation of the CFE [Conventional Forces in Europe] Treaty, satisfactory to all States Parties, on the basis of the goals and objectives in the 'Scope and Parameters' Document and the 'Basic Elements' Decision. We wish to strengthen the Treaty's key role in security and stability in Europe. The members of the Alliance have made several proposals in the course of the ongoing negotiations in the Joint Consultative Group in Vienna, most recently on the flank régime, and will continue to present new ideas to move the negotiations forward. We will work as expeditiously as possible towards the conclusion of the adaptation negotiation as foreseen in the timetable agreed at Lisbon on 1 December 1996; and we call on all CFE States Parties to engage actively in achieving this goal. Until the adaptation process is completed, the continued full implementation of the existing Treaty will remain vital.

14. We reiterate our strong concern about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery means. In this context, we re-emphasise that the principal goal of the Alliance is to prevent proliferation from occurring, or should it occur, to reverse it by diplomatic means, and we welcome the Alliance's efforts to ensure its preparedness to address such threats. We underline the risk to international and regional stability posed by the spread of these weapons.

In the light of India's recent nuclear tests, which the Alliance condemned in its statement of 20 May 1998, we urge all countries to accede to and fully implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. We support the early conclusion of a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty.

We are determined to achieve progress by the end of this year on an effective verification régime to strengthen the implebmentation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and re-emphasise the importance of universal adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

15. We call on Russia to ratify the START II Treaty and on Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to ratify the Open Skies Treaty.

16. We note that work is underway to assess the impact on NATO of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Production, Stockpiling and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, and look forward to an early report on that work. ..."

© 1998 The Acronym Institute.

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