Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the International Day against Nuclear Tests

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued the following statement in Berlin today (29 August) to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests:

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During my visit to Hiroshima in April, I gained an impression of the unspeakable suffering that is caused by the employment of nuclear weapons. To this day, Hiroshima serves as both a warning and a reminder of our duty: We must steadfastly pursue the aim of a world without nuclear weapons and prevent nuclear weapons from ever being used again.

On this International Day against Nuclear Tests, I therefore call on all those countries whose ratification is still required for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to ratify it without delay. Only when the CTBT enters into force will nuclear tests be fully prohibited under international law.

The age of nuclear testing must be ended once and for all.

Background information:

The International Day against Nuclear Tests was established by the United Nations in 2009. In cooperation with our European partners, and through the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative that was launched in 2010, Germany is campaigning hard for entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

So far, 164 countries have ratified the CTBT. Ratification by China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States is missing for the CTBT to enter into force. India, Pakistan and North Korea have not yet signed the CTBT.

Germany is a long-standing supporter of the CTBT and became a member of the Friends of the CTBT in 2013. Germany is the third-largest provider of funding for the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), which is based in Vienna. The monitoring stations of the CTBTO play an important role in detecting and investigating nuclear testing by North Korea. Even though the CTBT has yet to enter into force, a reliable verification regime is already in place, thanks in large part to contributions by Germany. 

Find out more:

external link, opens in new windowTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclea Weapons (NPT)  

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http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2016/160829_BM_Nukleartests.html?nn=479796